Millennium Items Arc
by Locondra Timbernova
Summary: Sequel to the KC Arc. (Summary provided by Guest Reader) With a new possible threat hanging upon them, Yuugi and the Pharaoh receive the unexpected help of the Ishtars, who have come to Domino with the intentions of protecting the Pharaoh and the Chosen One. With the looming danger shrouded in mystery, how will they cope?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Millennium Items Arc

Chapter 1

Yugi flung the door wide open upon seeing who it was. At that, the second, taller figure also lowered his hood, showing it to be Marik's elder half-brother, Odeon. "Marik!" Yugi cried happily. "What are you doing here? Come in, come in!"

"Thank you," Marik acknowledged, giving him a slight bow as he crossed the threshold. "I'm sorry for calling on you so late, and surprising you like this, but we've been kind of in a hurry tonight. I looked up your address but I probably should have called, first."

"It's okay," Yugi assured him, closing the door behind his two guests. Now that they were safe inside from the wind and chill, they undid their cloaks and revealed perfectly normal, everyday clothing. Marik wore a dark gray hooded sweatshirt and cargo pants, Odeon a black shirt and jeans, but both still wore the gold earrings and wristbands that passed for normal in their part of the Middle East. Yugi took their cloaks and hung them on a peg next to his own jacket. "Come on in. This is a surprise…what are you doing here?"

"We're here to see you," Marik answered with a hint of a smile. "Though, it's not a friendly visit, I'm afraid. If you don't mind, we really need to sit down and talk."

"Yeah…sure." Yugi led the way upstairs into the house, turning on a couple more lights in the living room. "Can I get you guys anything?"

"No, thank you." Marik sat down on the couch, Odeon in an adjacent chair. "How are you doing, Yugi?"

"I'm okay, I guess," Yugi replied, coming in and sitting down on the other end of the couch from Marik. "Can't really complain. Is everything all right? You said this isn't a friendly visit…"

"Well, in a manner of speaking." Marik leaned his elbows on his knees, trying to be casual. "Odeon and I came to Domino on urgent business. Someone might be after the pharaoh, so we came to protect him, and you."

Yugi sat up straight, an uncomfortable feeling prickling down his spine. "What? Me? Us? I…I don't get it," he said in a hush. "What's happening?"

"The best way to explain is to start from the beginning," Odeon suggested to his brother.

"I suppose," Marik sighed, clasping his hands together. "I just wanted to know, first of all, that you're all right, Yugi. That nothing has happened to you."

"No, I'm fine," Yugi assured him. "Yami and I are both doing well. No one's come after us that we can tell."

"That's good." Giving another sigh, Marik straightened up and looked at him directly. "This may take a while to explain. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, sure. I don't have to get up early in the morning." Yugi thumbed over his shoulder. "But my grandpa is asleep down the hall, so we just have to keep it quiet."

"All right." Marik kept his folded hands in his lap as he began to tell his story. "Not too long ago, we had a strange visitor in Egypt. We get them every once in a while, archaeologists and professors mostly, who know of my sister and her expertise on Egyptian artifacts. While we're not exactly tombkeepers anymore, we do still live near to the pharaoh's tomb and sanctuary and keep watch over it, until everything has been fulfilled. So, we get scholars sniffing around sometimes, wanting to see artifacts or talk to Ishizu about the tombs. At first, this guy seemed like the rest," he said warily, "some American archeologist full of questions, but the more he asked, the more Ishizu thought he seemed suspicious. Unlike any of the others, he knew about the Millennium Items. That was what he wanted to know about the most, where they were now, whether the tomb had been plundered, that sort of thing."

Yugi stared at him. "What did she tell him?"

Marik smiled wryly. "You know Ishizu. She may not have the Necklace anymore but she still knows how to read people. As soon as he started asking too many questions, she just put him off with some cryptic answers and told him to come around again if he didn't find what he was looking for. She didn't dare tell him where the sanctuary is or anything like that."

"Well, that's good, I guess." Yugi gave him a worried look. "Who was this guy?"

"We don't know," Marik said with a shake of his blond head.

"He made a pest of himself for a day or two," Odeon added. "I was there when he came by the second time. He seemed to think Ishizu was simple and I might be a better source of information since I was male…but I know almost nothing compared to my sister."

"I didn't meet him myself," Marik continued, "but from what I hear, he was a fairly typical American jerk, who thought he knew everything and got annoyed when we were able to deceive him and send him away with nothing."

Odeon nodded solemnly. "He was indeed."

"What did he want, exactly?" Yugi asked them both.

"He didn't say directly," Odeon answered. "But Ishizu gathered from his line of questions that he's seeking the Millennium Items. He wouldn't tell us, and got hostile when we questioned his credentials as an archeologist. He is neither that, nor a tourist – he wanted useful information, not historical anecdotes."

"Oh man…" Yugi's heart went cold within him, though he sensed the pharaoh listening eagerly and was glad for his presence. "What did you do?"

"As soon as she could, Ishizu sent for Shadi," Marik said solemnly. "We weren't sure what could be done, but we thought he might have some insight. After all, he's usually aware if there's a disturbance surrounding the Millennium Items that shouldn't be there."

"True," Yugi noted with a hint of a smile. "And he usually shows up conveniently just when he's needed."

Marik chuckled. "True enough. But Shadi's news to us was that he didn't sense anything, the mystical energies of the Items were all at rest. Even so, he was disturbed by the information from Ishizu and asked us to take certain precautions. We set watch on the sanctuary of the pharaoh and waited, and sure enough, the bastard tried to break into the tomb. We don't know how he found out where it was, but my brother – " He nodded toward Odeon. " – had a group of men stop him before he got anywhere near entering. We told him, then, that the Millennium Items weren't in the tomb, but that was all. We thought he left after that confrontation, but we got word a few days later that he'd been asking all around the museums and cultural ministries, trying to get information on us and our family, the things we've done and places we've gone as part of historical or cultural visits. After that, we acted quickly." Marik sobered even further, his pale blue eyes glinting with anger. "Ishizu said the only way to stop him from finding out who has the Millennium Items is to secure every possible source of information. Odeon and I came here to Domino, our ship landed this evening and we went straight to the museum to regain possession of the pharaoh's tablets. Now that they're safe, we had to come here to see you."

Yugi nodded silently but sat for a while letting the entire tale sink in. He was conscious of Yami lingering beside him, feeling many of the same things as he but also remaining silent for the time being. Yugi stroked his fingertips over the front face of the Puzzle, gazing down at it while so many things passed through his mind all at once. "Do you think I'm in any danger?" he murmured at last.

"Honestly…we don't really know." Marik shifted to face him more directly on the couch. "As long as we can stay one step ahead of this stranger, he won't find out that you have the Puzzle and three other Items…"

"Two," Yugi interrupted him. "I…don't have the Ring anymore."

"What?" Marik sat up sharply. "What happened to it?"

"I don't know." Yugi shook his head tiredly. "I check on them every once in a while, and one day, more than a year ago – almost two – I found that it was missing." His voice dropped with a slight growl. "I know where it is, though. Bakura has it."

Marik sat back heavily into the couch cushions, digesting this unpleasant surprise. "But…I gave it to you after I took it from him. It should have been safe. How did he get it back?"

"I wish I knew. It doesn't matter." Yugi lifted his head, trying to look calm. "As long as I know he has it, and it isn't out there floating somewhere. But I still have the Rod and the Necklace, they're safe. I just checked on them a few days ago, actually." He made a thoughtful face. "Shadi has the Key, at least he always does when I see him. What's the seventh Item? Have I ever come into contact with it?"

"I don't think so," Marik said with a shake of his head. "It's the Scales. Shadi has those also. The only Millennium Item that is currently missing is the Millennium Eye."

"I know. Pegasus is no help, he can't remember who took it." Yugi pondered this. "So, for the most part, the Millennium Items are either safe with Shadi, or here in Domino."

"And that's why we're here." Marik glanced briefly at his half-brother. "Part of it was securing the tablets, but the other part of it is you. Because you're here, and all these Items are here, you need to be protected. At least until such a time as we can be sure that this person isn't a threat to you. We may not have gotten a direct threat, but our suspicions are strong enough that we can't ignore them."

"Either way," Odeon offered, "any stranger asking after the Millennium Items cannot be trusted. Those whose destiny is caught up with them already know about them, and where they're located. Anyone else is an outsider who likely has a more dubious purpose for seeking them."

Yugi looked back and forth between them. "I remember Bakura – or, well, the spirit of the Ring – telling me something once about getting all seven Items together," he said in a soft, timid tone. "Do you suppose that's what the guy is after? Whatever power comes from having all seven?"

"I'm not sure," Marik had to admit.

"It sounded to me like he was not aware of such a rumor," Odeon said. "When he spoke to me and to Ishizu, it didn't seem like he was after their shadow powers. That's right," he suddenly remembered. "Ishizu warned him of the shadow games, and he scoffed at her, saying he didn't believe in curses on ancient Egyptian artifacts."

Yugi frowned. "Then what could he want with them? This is all too weird."

"For the time being, we think it would be best if someone were here to watch over you," Marik said. "We have the tablets in our custody, but we have to find some way of returning them safely to Egypt. It was such short notice that the museum wasn't ready, and we don't have proper transport arranged. We're keeping them on our ship overnight, but after that…well, we'll think of something. Meanwhile, you're more important than the tablets. Even though no one can take your Puzzle without winning it from you in a duel, you have other Millennium Items. We have to worry about outright theft."

"But, if you say you're not sure that this guy even knows I exist…"

"We'd like to keep it that way." Marik gave him a soft smile. "I may have surrendered the Rod and fulfilled my duties as a tombkeeper, but I feel like I'm not through yet…like I have to atone for all the years I turned my back on the pharaoh. I'm at his service, and yours. I want to protect you."

Yugi found himself inexplicably blushing. "You don't have to do that, Marik. Yami understands, you're forgiven."

"Even so. It's the least I can do." He glanced aside. "Odeon and I are prepared to stay here in Domino for a while, if we have to, in order to keep an eye on you. Not like real bodyguards or anything, always following you around and getting in your way, but…just to be sure. We know what this American looks like, and the way he operates. If he does somehow get wind of your location, we'll be prepared to do something to keep him from getting any of the Millennium Items."

"Well…I guess I can't stop you, if that's what you want to do." Yugi picked up the Puzzle, cradling it in his hands and gazing at the Eye as he often did while thinking about Yami and his destiny. "Really, though…we're fine. We've been doing all right on our own."

"Yugi…" Marik sat forward a little. "Shadi passed on a message to me, telling me that if I did come to Domino myself, I should be prepared to find out something unusual about the pharaoh. What is it? What was he talking about?"

Yugi looked boggled for a moment, but then gave a light laugh. "Oh, maybe he means the ritual."

"Ritual? What ritual?"

"Well…" Despite it being a long story, Yugi told Marik everything, about the accident with the Puzzle and Shadi's discovery of a Millennium spell to give the pharaoh's spirit a body, about his relationship, the ring on his finger, all of it. Marik and Odeon listened in stunned silence, their eyes large and mouths struggling to keep from falling open in awe. "You just missed him, actually," Yugi said at the conclusion of his tale. "The last ritual was a couple of days ago. We didn't really do much, just hung around and ran some errands. But, even that little bit, we're trying not to take for granted. It's an incredible gift."

"I'll say," Marik retorted, sitting back and running a hand through his hair. "Wow, Yugi. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that was what Shadi meant. Does he…?" He sat forward and lowered his voice shyly. "Does he know of your relationship?"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, that was why he brought us the ritual in the first place. Because he figured it might keep us from going inside the Puzzle to see each other all the time. We still do, once in a while, but nowhere near as often."

"I see." Marik blinked at him for a moment, not sure how to follow that. "Then, it's all the more important that we stay here to watch over you. If this person is out to steal the Millennium Items from their rightful owners, we can't let him get between you and the Puzzle. The pharaoh is vulnerable when he's outside it, it would be very bad if the bad guy showed up on the next full moon."

"Maybe you're right," Yugi relented. "But how? Where would you stay?"

"We wouldn't impose on you," Odeon said immediately. "If you agree to take our help, we'll find a place here in town for the time. There is no urgent reason for us to be going back to Egypt. Ishizu is watching over things from there, she can more than take care of herself."

"There's only one thing we need to take care of," Marik said to Odeon. "We have to do something about the tablets. They're safe for tonight on the ship, but they're too big and heavy to be safely transported all the way home that way." He sighed. "If only there were some way of storing them here, or at a halfway point, something our nosy little spy won't think of."

"Too bad Kaiba refuses to acknowledge his connection to the Millennium Items," Yugi pouted. "I bet they'd be perfectly safe at KaibaCorp, and no one would ever think that he'd have anything to do with Egypt."

Marik looked at him in interest. "Do you think we could at least try asking him?"

"No way!" Yugi shook his head wearily. "There's been a lot of animosity between me and Kaiba for the better part of a year. I'll explain it later, but…I just saw him last weekend at the Tokyo Game Expo, and trust me, he won't even give us a chance. The minute he hears it's me asking, he'll slam the door in our faces."

"Oh." Marik wore a vaguely sympathetic look that threatened to break into a smirk at any second. "So, basically, he's the same old Kaiba."

"Well…yeah," Yugi chuckled.

"Yugi," the pharaoh's spirit suddenly interrupted his thoughts. "What about Pegasus?"

"Oh yeah!" Yugi sat up sharply. "We can ask Pegasus!"

"Pegasus?" Marik had to think for a moment. "Wait, him? The guy who couldn't hang on to the Millennium Eye, Pegasus? Why him?"

"His company vaults are just as secure as KaibaCorp's," Yugi reasoned, feeding off his companion spirit's similar thoughts, "and he's got the money to spring for transporting the tablets. Not to mention, he _does_ acknowledge the Millennium Items, and I think he's gotten a visit from Shadi since losing the Eye. He knows a lot more than he lets on. I have to call him tomorrow anyway," he added. "I have to discuss business with him. Maybe I can ask him to take the tablets and store them with him, at Duelist Kingdom or even at his company headquarters in the States. He might be more willing to listen than Kaiba."

Marik eyed him doubtfully, but in the end, he nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right," he conceded. "I've never met the guy, I don't know anything about him except for what Ishizu's told me. I know he claims to have invented Duel Monsters after a visit to the pharaoh's tomb, and he's the one who created the god cards. But I've never had the occasion to deal with him myself."

"Well, I've got his card," Yugi offered. "I have to call him in the morning, so when I do, I'll ask if he'll meet with both of us. He's in town right now, or at least he should still be."

"If you think it'll work," Marik shrugged. "We can at least try."

They sat up rather late talking, as there was so much Yugi wanted to tell Marik about how things were going and what part the pharaoh was playing in his life now, and he wanted to hear all about how the three siblings had settled down in Egypt to live a more normal life. By the time Marik considered that he was keeping Yugi up too late, the night was rather old. "Do you have a place to stay tonight, at least?" Yugi asked them both.

"I think we were just going to go back to the ship," Marik said. "We've brought along about a dozen men, friends and villagers who have the same kind of heritage as my family who are also waiting for the pharaoh. They're standing guard over the tablets."

"It's really late," Yugi worried. "If you don't want to drive all the way back to the harbor, you can stay here for tonight. In case Pegasus agrees to see us right away in the morning."

"That would be nice, thank you," Marik said with a smile. "We shouldn't impose, though."

"It's no problem. I'll drag a futon out, it'll be fine." Yugi gave a cute little laugh. "I'll just have to get up earlier than I expected, so I can explain everything to Grandpa when he wakes up and finds you here."

Bright and early the next morning, against his body's every desire to stay in bed and sleep in, Yugi got up to take responsibility for the many things which had been unexpectedly laid upon his shoulders. Grandpa was naturally surprised by the strange visitors, but welcoming, and made them all breakfast while Yugi went into the other room to call Pegasus. It may have been too early for him, but not for a big-shot CEO, and he got through immediately to the regional office in Domino where it seemed Pegasus was overseeing its first full week of operation. By the oily tone of his voice, Yugi could tell he was very pleased to be receiving this particular phone call, but he listened as Yugi said he wanted to bring someone by with him, someone connected to Egypt. He would deliver his own news about the business offers in person, but it was conditional upon Pegasus giving audience to this friend. Pegasus agreed to do so, and gave him directions to the Industrial Illusions offices downtown. Now that the meeting was set, Marik and Odeon split up – Marik would come with Yugi, while his half-brother made his way down to the harbor to check in on their people guarding the pharaoh's tablets. Yugi got dressed and came down just as Marik was wrapping his cloak around his shoulders. "So, should we walk, or take a taxi?" Yugi asked.

"Neither," Marik replied with a smirk that made his pale blue eyes sparkle. "I brought my bike."

"Oo!" Yugi quickly stifled his excitement lest his grandfather overhear. If there was one thing Grandpa Muto disapproved of, it was Yugi riding motorcycles. "Do you have a second helmet, for me?" he asked secretively.

"Of course, you can use Odeon's," Marik smiled. "Though how you're going to cram all that hair into it is beyond me."

Giggling, Yugi followed him out and around the corner to where his motorcycle was parked beneath the trees. Brushing fallen leaves off the seat, Marik straddled it comfortably and extended a hand to help Yugi on behind him. "Just hold on tight," he warned as he started up the bike.

Yugi flung his arms around Marik's waist and clasped his hands to keep them securely together, grinning like a maniac inside the helmet as Marik pulled away. His motorcycle was much bigger and more low-slung than Tristan's, but it was just as much fun to ride. Thanks to the wind and the noise and their helmets they couldn't talk during the drive, but Yugi pointed and gestured to steer Marik the right way downtown to find the office block where Industrial Illusions now resided. Once they came to a stop in the perfect parking space, Yugi yanked off the helmet (his hair naturally bounced right back) and let out a hoot of excitement. "I wish I could have a motorcycle," he enthused. "That was fun!"

"Let me guess…" Marik took the helmet from him and stashed them both away. "Your grandpa won't let you have one."

"He doesn't even like to know I've ridden on one," Yugi pouted.

"I won't tell him if you won't." Marik turned and gazed upward at the tall façade of the office complex. "So, this is it?"

"This is what he said." Yugi pulled the business card out of his back pocket to verify. "Yup, this is it. Upstairs to the fifth floor."

The two slender young men looked rather out of place in the quiet, sterile office building, but no one stopped them to make sure they knew where they were going. Industrial Illusions was sharing the space with a couple other businesses, so Yugi made sure to seek out the proper one and led the way inside to find Pegasus' secretary. Since they were expected, it took almost no time before they were ushered into a rather large corner office where Maximillian Pegasus sat behind a well-kept desk. He had several papers near at hand, but nothing immediately in front of him as he set his hands demurely on the desktop and smiled coolly. "Yugi," he said politely, drawling out the name suggestively. "Nothing like waiting until the last minute, is there?"

"I'm sorry," Yugi said awkwardly, stepping ahead of Marik, who lingered behind him. "It's been really busy this week after I got back."

"Not to worry," Pegasus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I've been rather swamped with work myself. I need to make sure everything here is in place before I can even think of returning home. Fortunately, that will finally happen tonight…" He narrowed his visible eye in a scolding sort of look. "…so you're just in time to give me your answer."

"And I will," Yugi said, "but first, I need to ask you something important. It's about the Millennium Items."

Pegasus' eye flicked to Marik briefly. "Yes, so you said on the phone," he murmured more seriously. "I'm not sure why you would need _my_ help on the matter…considering I no longer possess one."

"That doesn't change your connection to them," Marik said softly, almost darkly. "It's said you were chosen to bear the Eye, so it still belongs to you…and you to the Items' past and future."

Pegasus arched an eyebrow at him. "Sorry," Yugi broke in, "Pegasus…this is Marik Ishtar. Ishizu's younger brother."

The mention of Ishizu caused Pegasus to sit up straight in surprise, and then rise from his chair. "You don't say," he gasped dramatically. "You're Ishizu's brother? The one she hid the god cards from? Oh yes…" He smiled again as he relaxed and lowered himself back into his chair. "Now that you mention it, I thought you looked familiar. Though, there's something different about you compared to the photos I saw from the Battle City tournament…"

Marik's face twitched uncomfortably. "I'm sure there is," he said flatly.

Pegasus rested his elbows on the desk and laced his fingers together. "My, my," he said silkily. "The younger Ishtar. I had no idea your guest was so intriguing, Yugi-boy."

Yugi fought to restrain himself from rolling his eyes at Pegasus' favorite epithet. "We're here to ask for your help, because we don't know where else to turn. No one else has the resources to do what we're asking."

Pegasus sobered and focused his eye on Yugi instead. "I'm listening."

Yugi faced him with his back straight and arms at his sides, looking rather courageous. He decided Pegasus didn't need to know the backstory, at least not yet. "The Ishtar family donated a lot of artifacts to the Domino Museum a couple years ago, including a set of tablets from the pharaoh's tomb," he explained. "But now, there's some kind of threat being raised against the Millennium Items, so they need to take the tablets back to Egypt. The problem is, they don't have a way to do it quickly and safely."

"The tablets need to be returned the pharaoh's sanctuary anyway," Marik added. "Now seemed like as good a time as ever to take care of it."

"The tablets with the Egyptian gods," Pegasus said knowingly, having gone completely serious. "Yes, I paid a visit to them earlier this week, when I arrived in the city. I hadn't seen them since they were in the tomb itself."

"We've taken them into our possession," Marik went on, "but because time was of the essence, we did so without preparing a way to transport them safely back to Egypt. They're under guard at the moment, but we need to act quickly to at least remove them from Domino and place them somewhere safe until such a time as we can arrange transport to Egypt."

A smug light crept slowly back into Pegasus' hazel eye. "And this is where I come in, is it? You'd like my assistance in transporting the tablets?"

Marik faced him with a grim look. "The tablets' security is my main concern. They contain too much information that could fall into the wrong hands, now that the pharaoh holds the god cards and several Millennium Items as well."

"Ahh…" Pegasus flicked a knowing look back and forth between the two young men. "It's a matter of protecting the pharaoh, is it?"

Yugi and Marik also looked at each other, and Marik decided to explain further. "We suspect someone is hunting for the Millennium Items, though we don't know why. He came to Egypt and tried to get information out of Ishizu. If he were to come here and find the tablets just sitting in a museum for anyone to see, it could end badly."

Pegasus sighed and closed his eye for a moment. All the lilt and bravado seemed to fade out of him, leaving him tired and solemn. "I guess I can't dismiss my destiny with the Items, no matter how long it's been since my Eye was taken," he murmured. "I'm too caught up in it. Duel Monsters and god cards, and all of that." His gaze returned to Yugi. "No matter what you might think of me, I do still have a sense of loyalty to Shadi that can't be broken. By inference, that means I owe a little something to the pharaoh as well. Despite losing the Millennium Eye, I'm a part of this, whether I'd like to be or not. Very well." He straightened up and pushed back from the desk. "I'll take the pharaoh's tablets from Marik and store them. I have high-security vaults at my company headquarters in San Francisco, they'll be safe there until such a time as we can have them shipped safely and securely back to Egypt where they belong."

Marik frowned at him. "And you can get them overseas to the States?"

"Of course." The haughty look began to return to Pegasus' face. "As I mentioned, I'm leaving for home tonight. They can come with me on my jet, I'll see to all the necessary security and clearing customs."

Marik breathed a sigh of gratitude and bowed his head slightly. "Thank you. I'll make sure to contact Ishizu with all the information, so she can arrange with you to have them sent to Egypt when everything settles down."

"Of course. Anything for your lovely sister," Pegasus said with an odd sort of smile. "This situation that has you acting so quickly…it isn't likely to pose me any danger, is it?"

"We don't really know," Marik had to admit. "The pharaoh is our primary concern."

"Yes, understandably so. Yet…" He eyed Marik coolly. "…should I have reason to be on the lookout for trouble, as a former bearer of a Millennium Item, you will see to it that I'm informed, won't you?"

Marik sighed and nodded. "I'll be here in Domino for a while, but my sister can pass word to you if there's trouble."

"Good." With that, Pegasus folded his hands on his desktop and turned a slick smile to Yugi. "Now, then. I believe you have a decision to deliver, Yugi-boy."

Yugi nodded. "I've talked it over with a few people, especially Yami. I'm not going back on the endorsement deal I agreed to last week, that's still a yes."

"Hm, yes, and I have the contracts here for you to sign," Pegasus noted.

"But apart from that…I'm going to have to wait until after the tournament to decide whether to take a permanent job as a game tester," Yugi finished. "It wouldn't look right if I was game testing for you and planning to compete at the same time. People might think I was getting special treatment or worse, cheating."

"Ah, yes." Pegasus nodded wisely. "You certainly have thought this over, Yugi-boy. Very well, I'll wait until the tournament is over to hear your answer. But in the meantime, I'd be delighted to have you sign those contracts and maybe even take a couple of quick photos to get started. What do you say?"

Yugi did roll his eyes this time. "Fine, whatever. What do I need to do?"

Pegasus already had the contract sitting there on his desk within reach, as Yugi's agreement had not been in doubt, and pointed out where he needed to sign. Yugi read it over quickly to make sure that there were no loopholes that might allow Pegasus to manipulate or exploit him in some unexpected fashion, and willfully signed his name to the bottom. "Remember, Yugi-boy," Pegasus thought to point out, "you're not to lose any duel that can be tracked using the KaibaCorp system. If you feel like losing duels, you had better do it on the table-top." After that, he put in a call to another department in the office to summon a photographer while he took Marik aside and squared away all the details necessary to take care of the pharaoh's tablets. They were still working it out when the photographer arrived and took Yugi aside in front of a blank wall to pose for a couple of head shots that would be added into the first round of posters and flyers to be produced. Pegasus was finished with Marik by the time Yugi was free, at which point the CEO gave him a gloating smile. "Now then, Yugi-boy…I may not be here to oversee all the fun, but my staff here at the regional office will be glad to take care of you. One of my publicity managers will call you to set up a photo shoot sometime soon, and anything else we might need out of you. Just your name and image, of course – the contract doesn't let me do anything else with you."

"Sure," Yugi said uncomfortably. "And, um…well, thanks, I guess, for helping out with the tablets."

"Of course." Pegasus smiled smugly down at him. "Far be it from me to turn a blind eye to some old friends in need. No pun intended."

Marik also thanked him stiffly as he and Yugi left. They were well on their way out of the building before either of them spoke a word to each other. "So that's Pegasus." Marik glanced aside at Yugi. "He's kind of weird."

Yugi burst out laughing. "Yeah, he is. He hasn't gotten any less weirder now that he's not trying to take the Puzzle from me." He glanced back. "So, is everything all set?"

"Yeah. We need to go down to the harbor right away, I need to escort the tablets to the airport. Unless you need to get home?" he asked concernedly.

"No, we've got time," Yugi assured. "I just have to be back to take over the afternoon shift at the game shop."

"All right. As long as you're up for the ride."

Yugi grinned insolently. "Oh yeah!"

Tucking the paper with the information from Pegasus into a pocket of his sweatshirt, Marik plopped onto his bike and handed Yugi the second helmet. Just before putting his on, he glanced over his shoulder and smirked knowingly. "World tournament in January, huh?"

"I'll tell you all about it when we get done," Yugi promised, wedging the helmet onto his head.

The two young men rode together on Marik's bike to the port to accompany the truck carrying the stone tablets to the airport, where they were supposed to meet someone from Pegasus' staff who would handle the security. Getting to ride on the motorcycle so much was Yugi's thrill for the day, and he clung tightly to Marik with his arms around his waist, resting comfortably against his back while the wind tugged at his coat. Unbeknownst to him, Marik rode with a little smile on his lips, thinking silently to himself that he didn't mind having Yugi holding on to him that way. They roared up to the docks at the harbor and into a hangar where a fair-sized yacht sat at anchor. An assortment of dark-skinned, robed figures milled around the hangar, though all of them looked up at the motorcycle's noisy entrance. A cargo truck was also parked inside, presumably carrying the tablets from the museum. Yugi sat waiting with the helmet in his lap while Marik went to find Odeon, and together the two of them stood head-to-head hurriedly discussing the plan. Once Odeon had heard everything, he called out to some of the men in their native language and directed them to see to the truck. Marik came back to the bike and picked up his helmet. "It's all set," he informed Yugi. "You and I will escort the truck to the airport, and then I'll take you home."

Yugi nodded, though his eyes were on the boat behind them. "Is that really yours?" he asked in awe.

Marik glanced to see what he was staring at and smiled. "It was," he admitted. "I rode this very same boat into town for the Battle City tournament. But it's almost the last of it." He grew serious, almost sad, and looked down at the helmet in his hands. "I've sold almost everything I gained as leader of the Rare Hunters. I don't need it anymore, not if I intend to live a quiet life. The boat and my bike are just about all I have left to my name…and I'm selling them, too."

Yugi gazed sympathetically at him. "Aw, how come?" he wondered. "You really like this bike, don't you?"

"It's one of my favorite things." Marik shook his head. "No, it's part of my past. The past that I need to bury and leave behind me. I'd rather sell it and save the money for my family, for the future. It's a good thing I hadn't sold off the yacht yet – trying to fly all these people to Domino would have been expensive."

"I bet." Yugi ran a hand lovingly across the seat in front of him. "It's so nice, it's a shame to get rid of it."

"Yeah, it's going to be hard parting with it. But…I don't really need it where I live. I can't ride it in the sand." Mustering a smile for his friend, Marik put on his helmet and took his seat. "Hold on!"

The cargo truck kept pace easily behind the motorcycle as they crossed the city together to the airport. Yugi just tagged along for the fun of it, as Marik had all the information and certainly carried himself like a professional as he sought out the cargo dock, met with the Industrial Illusions security, and saw to it that the tablets were stored in the same hangar with the giant private jet that Pegasus would be taking back to America. It was large enough to handle its precious cargo, something Marik needed to see for himself before he would sign over the truck to Industrial Illusions and leave it. The truck driver was left to find his own way back to the harbor, while Marik took Yugi home at last. "You want to stay for lunch?" Yugi offered after he had been dropped off. "I'll tell you all about the world tournament. It's going to be awesome."

"That's all right, thanks," Marik demurred. "There'll be plenty of time for that later, I don't want to hold you up if you have to work. This isn't the last you'll see of me, by far."

"Going back to the boat?"

"For tonight. Odeon and I will find a place for ourselves tomorrow, after we see our companions off. I'll call you as soon as we're settled."

"Sure. We'll hang out." Yugi grinned brightly. "Thanks for the ride."

"No problem." Marik smiled back. "Say hi to the pharaoh for me."

Yugi had finished his day shift downstairs when he got the call he had been anticipating, and withdrew upstairs to sit down and chat with Marik about their arrangements. It had taken the better part of the day, but the brothers from Egypt had located a small temporary-living flat above some shops not far from Yugi's neighborhood, cheap on account of them still having a little cosmetic damage from the typhoon that had not been repaired. Rather than catch up on the day's events over the phone, Marik invited Yugi to come by and see it for himself, and confirm as Yugi speculated that it was only about a ten minute walk from his home. Wrapped up snugly in a thick coat, Yugi made the walk and dropped in around dinnertime to find Marik eager and welcoming. "It's a small place," he cautioned as he closed the door behind his visitor. "Not really much to look at, since we didn't bring much with us. But it came furnished."

"It's not bad," Yugi said politely. The flat was nothing more than two rooms, living quarters in front with the bedroom and bath in back, sparse but not ugly. "How are you guys going to be able to afford to just…live here for a month or two?"

"I told you, I sold just about everything I once owned," Marik assured. "I have quite a bit saved for the odd emergency, like this. It'll be fine. I really hope it's not any longer than a couple of months, though." He smiled sheepishly. "I'm not ready for cold weather."

Yugi laughed. "Oh yeah, you picked a really bad time to decide to live in Japan. November, December…well, usually it's not this chilly in November," he added. "We're having a rare cold snap."

"Yes, but remember, I'm used to the desert," Marik said wryly. "Anything below…room temperature, really, is cold to me. We'll have to stock up on some warmer clothing."

"Well, if there's anything you need – anything at all – just ask," Yugi offered. "You guys are my friends, and I don't want to see you roughing it for my sake." He glanced around the flat quickly. "Where's Odeon?"

"Running an errand," Marik replied. "He won't be long."

Yugi nodded and took a short walk around the flat, inspecting it to be sure that his friends weren't being suckered into a bad living situation. "So, did everything go off without a hitch?"

"Mhm." Marik slid onto a stool that was currently the only furnishing in the kitchenette. "Our drivers decided to wait with the tablets just to be sure, and watched them being loaded onto the plane. They're in Pegasus' hands now. I called my sister late last night, to let her know everything that happened. She asked me to pass a message along to you." He gazed at Yugi with a serious light in his pale blue eyes. "She wanted me to remind you not to take this matter lightly. I know it seems strange and a little…overzealous, maybe, to have Odeon and I drop in on you like this and decide to shadow you for a couple of months, but if even the smallest of our suspicions proves true, you're a target. You'd be better off with us bothering you than to have no warning at all."

"I don't really mind," Yugi said gently, leaning on the counter nearest Marik. "I'm just concerned about you. I kind of admire you for having the dedication to just uproot your life like this, all for my sake. Even if there isn't anything remotely resembling trouble around me right now doesn't mean there can't be later on."

"That was our thinking," Marik nodded. "All the same…perhaps it would be best if we kept a low profile. Don't let too many people know that we're in town. If this stranger does show up, I'd rather have an element of surprise."

"All right, if you say so." Yugi sighed; he had been itching to give Joey a call and tell him about Marik. Then again, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea, if he couldn't be certain what sort of reaction Joey might have. "I was really hoping to give you a chance to see the others again, though. I don't think you can be my shadow-bodyguards without eventually running into them, anyway. I hang out with Joey a lot."

Marik smiled. "How is he, anyway?"

"Oh, he's doing great. He's in university – second year. He wants to be a teacher. And he and Mai are dating, finally," Yugi said cheerily. "She's moved to Domino too, she lives with him."

At that, Marik's sunny look faded. "Mai Valentine? Really?" He lowered his head, staring at the floor. "I feel so horrible for what I did to her. I know Joey was kind to me after Battle City was over, but I don't know if she could forgive me the same way the rest of you have."

"It wasn't your fault," Yugi tried to reason. "It was your other side, your dark half. That part of you is dead, it's gone. You're not the same guy. I'm sure Mai knows that, and wouldn't be angry if she saw you again."

Marik shook his head slowly. "All the same…perhaps we shouldn't spring that on them right away. If I do have to show myself to them, in order to keep my word to you, then…I guess I'll have to deal with it then."

"All right," Yugi relented. "You're here of your own will, not any order from me, so I'll leave it up to you." He unconsciously fiddled with his ring; inside his mind, he could sense that Yami's opinion of the matter leaned more toward Marik's point of view than his own. The pharaoh prodded him with a memory of something Mai had said a long time ago, when she was working for the wrong side, that he considered evidence that perhaps Marik had a point. But they kept this to themselves. Outwardly, Yugi cocked his head curiously as he changed the subject. "Just what are you going to do with yourselves while you're here? Are you going to stake out the game shop, or what?"

Marik straightened up and gave a small, half-hearted laugh. "No, nothing like that. We'll be doing our own investigating, and keeping in touch with Ishizu in case anything else happens in Egypt. One of us will be watching out for you at a distance most days, though, so if you feel like going out, at least let us know. We probably won't follow you or ask to be taken along, as long as you're going to be with your friends. I'm more concerned about this guy showing up when you're alone somewhere and unable to look to someone for help."

"Oh. Okay. Well, I guess that's not too bad, then." Yugi smiled softly. "So, is this what it's like to be a pharaoh? And have guards watching out for you all the time?"

Marik gave him a similar smile back. "I don't know. Maybe." He looked away for a moment, and then returned with a wide-eyed look at Yugi. "Can I…talk to him? The pharaoh?"

"Oh…yeah, sure." Yugi stood up straight and held his hands around the Puzzle – not that he needed to, it just looked official – as the Eye on its face brightened and flashed. Marik seemed to sense the change in him, the subtle shift in countenance as the pharaoh's mind took primary control, for he suddenly sat up straight and proud and stopped twiddling his thumbs in his lap. Yugi lifted his head, and Marik could see that it was indeed the pharaoh, cooler and darker and more elegant in appearance. Then, he smiled. "I had a feeling you would want to speak to me at some point," Yami said kindly.

Marik hopped off the stool and took a step towards him. "I'm sorry, pharaoh," he said softly. "I know we've been going on and on about you for the past couple of days like you weren't there. I thought to speak to you directly right away, but…I guess Yugi and I just got caught up talking about everything."

"It's all right." Yami thrust out a hand amiably. "Anything you do for Yugi's protection is for mine also, as he never goes anywhere without me. Thank you."

After a moment's hesitation, Marik clasped the offered hand. "It's a pleasure to be able to say that I'm in your service," he murmured with eyes lowered.

"Please," Yami smiled. "There's no need for formalities between us. I consider your presence here to be an act of friendship, not duty. Considering the past estrangement."

"Well, yes, there is that…" Marik let go of his hand and tried to look him in the eye. "You were so quick to forgive me, even while my dark side was torturing Yugi…" A light suddenly came into his eyes, and he gave a small gasp. "You…and he…even then, you loved him…"

Yami stared in wonder that he should know this, but then smiled again. "Our friends didn't see everything that was happening in the shadow game," he explained. "But you did. You saw that my concern for Yugi was not merely that of a pharaoh to his vessel."

"You wouldn't have cared so much for him if that were all it was." Marik glanced at his companion's left hand hanging at his side; Yami noticed, and lifted it to show the ring he bore, admiring it anew from this unique perspective. "I'm glad," Marik continued. "I couldn't imagine being in your place, lost so far from your home and your life, if you didn't have someone to care about." He sighed softly. "I know how that feels."

Yami nodded his understanding, leaving him a short silence in which to absorb his thoughts before asking him something that had been burning in his mind. "Marik…you said the other night that if we had noticed anything out of the ordinary, we should tell you. I didn't think we had, then, but I've been thinking. Perhaps there is something. It's small, I thought it insignificant, but now that you're here with these tales of suspicious men faking archeology credits to get close to the Millennium Items…"

Marik stared eagerly at him. "What is it?"

"A week ago, at the Tokyo Game Expo…we were preparing to leave when I sensed something strange in the hall. Yugi was just walking around, we had gone past Industrial Illusions when I felt a sense of darkness nearby."

The stare darkened. "Go on…"

Yami shook his head. "That's all it was. I thought it odd, since there were no other Millennium Items near us at all. It wasn't a familiar sense, but at the same time, I could identify it as dark and dubious." He narrowed his eyes as he gazed across at Marik. "Do you think it might have been connected at all to this person searching for the Millennium Items?"

"At the Tokyo Game Expo?" Marik made a face as he thought. "Honestly, I don't know, pharaoh. That's kind of an odd place to be sensing a dark presence. But it was near Industrial Illusions?"

"It wasn't Pegasus," Yami assured. "I've been near to him enough times to know."

"Hmm…" Marik folded his arms and frowned. "I don't know if it has anything to do with the matter at hand, but I'll consider it. If you sense that same presence again, anytime, anywhere, let me know. I'll see if Ishizu has any thoughts on it, when I talk to her again."

"Thank you." Yami seemed to relax now that he had shared his observation. "Admittedly, it's not every day I sense things that are out of place, so it must be significant in some way. But whether or not it has anything to do with the Millennium Items, I can't say." He faced Marik squarely, and reached to place a hand on his shoulder. "Again, thank you for coming so quickly to take care of us. I feel better knowing that we're not alone, should someone be after the Puzzle."

Marik smiled shyly. "It's my pleasure, pharaoh."

At that, Yami decided he wasn't needed anymore, and let go of the connection. Yugi withdrew his hand and smiled, and at that moment the door opened to admit Odeon carrying a couple of shopping bags. "Ah, Yugi," he said upon seeing that they had a visitor.

"Hi, Odeon," Yugi said brightly.

"How'd it go?" Marik asked his brother.

"Fine." Odeon set the bags on the kitchen counter near where Yugi stood. "But if you're expecting any of the usual home-cooked meals we're used to, you're going to have to change your perspective. Japan is…very odd."

Yugi laughed. "You're a long way from home, all right! It's sushi and soba here, not…whatever it is you eat in Egypt."

Marik laughed back. "Hey, Odeon and I spent a lot of time traveling the world. We're used to a variety of exotic cuisine. Though, I suppose before long we will miss Ishizu's stews and flatbread," he sighed reluctantly.

"Say…" Yugi looked back and forth between them, tucking his hands shyly into the pockets of his coat. "You want to go out? I'll show you one of the good noodle places around here."

The brothers glanced at each other. "Sure," Marik decided. "Why not? It's been a while since I've gone 'out' and had a good time."

At that point in the evening, most places, including cheap noodle shops, were in the middle of the late dinner rush, but they still managed to get a seat and some good, hot food to chase away the autumn chill. Odeon was his usual quiet, stoic self, with eyes alert to everything around him, but Marik and Yugi chatted away like old friends, laughing and teasing and reminiscing on the better times amongst the conflict that had introduced them to each other. Finally, Yugi told Marik all about the world tournament down to the tiniest detail he had gleaned from Pegasus, and then exhorted him to enter. "It does sound like fun," Marik admitted, "but…how can I enter? I don't think they have qualifying tournaments and national finals in Egypt. In all my time there, I've never heard anyone openly talk about gaming or dueling. I have to buy new cards and stuff online."

"Online, huh?" Yugi grinned. "Well, I happen to also know that KaibaCorp is putting out a new version of the duel disk, that will make it possible to duel online. As long as you've got an internet connection, you'd be able to find people to duel. Who knows? Maybe you can enter another country's tournament long-distance."

"Hmm, that could be interesting." Marik stroked his chin thoughtfully. "An online dueling system, huh? How do you know all this?"

"I told you," Yugi chuckled, "Tokyo Game Expo! I got to try out the new duel disk personally. It's so cool. You've got to see it. Maybe," he added suggestively, "if you're still here playing bodyguard in December, you might just find yourself with a special Christmas present."

"Don't you dare," Marik said. "You told me yesterday your shop has fallen on hard times. You should be saving your money for that, not buying me a wireless duel disk. I don't even celebrate Christmas – or at least I never have. Isn't that a Western tradition?"

"Yeah, but we have it here, too," Yugi shrugged.

"What about your birthday?" Odeon broke in, casting his brother a sideways glance.

Yugi perked up. "When's your birthday?"

Marik faintly blushed. "Uh…a couple days before Christmas."

"Ha!" Yugi waggled a finger at him. "That settles it! Two good reasons to get you a super-cool present!"

Marik set his chin on his fist and gave his friend an exasperated look. "I'm not going to talk you out of this, am I?"

"Nope." Yugi grinned across the table. "Thanks, Odeon. That's a valuable piece of information."

Odeon smiled coolly back. "Of course. What my brother won't tell you," he added with a stern note, "is that it's been a very long time since anyone got him a present. He may simply be a little embarrassed to have a friend who cares."

"Odeon," Marik groaned, hiding his eyes behind his hand.

"Don't worry, Marik," Yugi giggled. "I won't make a big fuss. It's just what I want to do, you know? I like to do things for my friends. That means you, too." He sat back with a little sigh. "I just hope you're still here. Not that I want this threat to hang over my head that long, or to drag it all out till Christmas, but…it would be fun to have you around for the holidays. At least, I hope you're around long enough to be able to see Yami face to face." He smiled knowingly. "I know he wants that, too."

Marik sat up in interest. "Yes," he breathed. "I hope to be here until the next full moon. I want more than anything to meet the pharaoh, now that you've told me about the ritual. Well…" He picked up his glass as if to make a toast. "Here's hoping that all the stupid trouble blows over before that, and we can just hang out until the ritual for fun."

Yugi toasted him back. "I agree!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Chapter 2

It was difficult for Yugi not to think about Marik and Odeon being in town, a few blocks away from him, even though he didn't see them at all for several days. He guessed they were busy about their investigation and didn't have anything important to share, which was both good and bad. Good, that there was no sudden emergency to warn him about, no trouble or suspicious movement, but Yugi couldn't stop himself worrying the longer it went without any kind of news at all. At first, he hadn't been certain he could accept the Ishtars' urgent concern that there was something wrong when he had no evidence of anyone being after him, but after watching the tablets leaving Japan for Egypt and hearing the messages passed on from Ishizu and Shadi, he understood that they wouldn't be so serious if there were no real threat. It was just a matter of waiting to see whether the threat would show up on his doorstep, or if it could be curtailed in Egypt or America or somewhere else, making Marik breathe a sigh of relief that his temporary relocation was for naught.

A week after the unusual visit to the Industrial Illusions office, Yugi got a call one day from an enthusiastic-sounding publicist, asking him about his schedule in order to plan a time for him to go down to the office for an official photoshoot. A few preliminary posters to advertise the tournament were out, Kame even got some (featuring what Yugi thought was the dumbest picture of him), but they wanted to press forward with a full-color extravaganza featuring the promise of dueling the world champion a little more prominently. The publicist was delighted to find a spot just a couple of days forward that worked with Yugi's schedule in the game shop to allow him to come downtown. "Uh…I've never done anything like this before," Yugi said hesitantly. "Is there anything I need to do, or bring, or…?"

"Well, if you'd like to bring a couple of different outfits," the publicist flippantly suggested, "the stylist can go over them with you and decide which ones will look best with our graphics scheme. We'll maybe shoot a couple of different looks."

_Stylist?!_ Yugi was almost certain he heard the pharaoh's internal chuckle at that. "Um…okay. I…I'm not really a fashion-conscious type, I don't know if I have anything special…"

"That's all right," the woman continued in her cheery tone. "Just as long as you bring yourself and a big smile, we can work with it. Just check in with the receptionist at the main desk when you come in, and I'll take care of you. All right?"

And that was how Yugi found himself toting a backpack full of clothes downtown to the Industrial Illusions branch office one chill autumn day, feeling very stupid and trying to convince himself that the money was going to be worth his embarrassment. As per his agreement with his special bodyguards, he called Marik to let him know where he would be going, and his friend insisted on meeting him at the office building after it was over to escort him home. He hesitated to report anything over the phone, but said that when they met, he might have something to share. Glancing around just in case he might spot Marik or Odeon doing something silly like tailing him, Yugi took a deep breath for courage and pushed open the door. The secretary who greeted him had him wait a moment while she called the publicity department, and within seconds Yugi was being ushered ceremoniously into another wing of the company while the publicist chatted his ear off about how wonderful it was to meet him and how much this was going to help Industrial Illusions kick off a huge advertising campaign right before the holidays. Yugi clutched at the straps of his backpack in his nervousness and just kept nodding politely to everything she said. At last, she brought him to a room off the cubicle-packed publicity department where a photographer's backdrop and lights were set up and several people busied themselves in preparation. Only one came over when Yugi entered the room. "You must be young Mr. Muto," he said brightly, extending a hand in a manner to suggest that he was, as his accent told, American. "Just call me Andy. I'm here to make you look good."

"Uh…hi," Yugi stammered, shaking his hand. He doubted this stranger's sense of looking good, judging by his loud shirt and metrosexual haircut, but wisely kept his mouth shut.

Andy scanned him up and down with a critical eye. "Hm, not much to work with," he began. "The hairstyle…"

"Um, I wasn't under the impression I was coming down here for a makeover," Yugi interrupted, combing his bangs out of his eyes with a finger.

"Oh, yes, sorry. It's just so…out there. I won't mess with it, though, if it's your 'thing,'" Andy prattled on. "Did you bring anything else to change into?"

"Oh, yeah…" Yugi slung his backpack off his shoulder. He had come down wearing a fairly normal outfit for him, jeans and a tight-fitting black shirt with long sleeves, but he had thrown his slinky black pants and a couple of other shirts in the bag just in case. He stood back while Andy picked critically through them and started laying one shirt or the other on top of the black pants to see which looked better. "I'm sorry," Yugi felt he needed to say. "I don't really have a huge wardrobe. Most days I work in the game shop, it's just t-shirt and jeans for me."

"Oh, but these are nice," Andy gushed, indicating the sexy pants. "My, you do like the color black. Well, and isn't this interesting," he added, holding up a blue vest with buckles Yugi had not worn for a couple of years, after too much teasing by Joey. "I know, why don't you run along and change into these pants instead. We'll see what kind of difference that makes."

"There's a restroom just down the hall," the publicist said to help.

Yugi closed himself away inside the bathroom for a little bit, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself before changing his pants and then giving himself a few minutes to preen in front of the mirror. He was now clad head-to-toe in black, collar to boots, and didn't mind the way it made him look. As he gazed into his reflection's eyes, his thoughts turned inward. "Why am I doing this again?" he complained.

Yami's voice chuckled softly in the back of his mind. "For your grandfather, and the game shop," he answered truthfully.

Yugi sighed. "I was afraid you were going to say something like that." He lowered his gaze, his eyes going unfocused as his mind concentrated on the mental communication. "And I don't suppose it would do any good to ask if you want to do this, instead of me."

"I have even less experience or understanding of this photoshoot business than you do, Yugi," Yami said gently. "I don't know that you want me representing you."

"Well…" Yugi pictured his lover in his corporeal body and figured there was absolutely nothing wrong with him being representative of them both. "I had a thought. They want a picture of the world champion for their publicity, right? Then it should be both of us, bonded, like when we duel. That's who people see when they challenge us, that's who they should see now."

Yami was silent for a while, but only because he couldn't come up with a proper response. "Your logic is flawless," he murmured after a bit. "I can't really argue with it. You won't take 'but I don't want to' as an answer, will you?"

"Please?" Yugi looked into the mirror again, the most plaintive look possible in his eyes. "For me?"

The pharaoh heaved a long sigh. "Stop that," he grumbled. "You know I can't resist that."

"I love you, Yami…"

The inner voice chuckled again. "All right, all right. We'll do this together."

Yugi smiled more strongly as he stepped back from the mirror, the Puzzle around his neck beginning to glow. The bathroom door opened to reveal the slender, sultry bonded form of pharaoh and vessel, partners of the game and of life, Yami Yugi. He stalked into the photo room in such a way as to give Andy a reason to gasp. "Yes, I like it!" he crowed. "Very nice, very…modern. Like a punk rocker. It looks good with the black shirt, we'll just leave it for now. Maybe try a different one later. Just a little makeup and we'll get started."

Yugi's eyes widened. "Makeup?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Just to take the shine off your nose," Andy insisted. "It won't be much. Ah, and here I thought you were already wearing some. No, that's your natural eyelashes…wonderful."

Yugi tried not to flinch as he was primped and powdered for the camera's sake, and eagerly escaped from Andy in order to go stand against the backdrop as ordered and pose. "Did you bring your cards with you?" the photographer asked him as he checked his focus.

"Well, yes. Of course." Yugi reached to draw his deck from the pouch on his belt.

"Perfect!" Andy squealed from behind the photographer. "Oh, just one or two will do. You can hold them like you're about to play them. Hmm." He stood back with another critical look. "That big pendant of yours…"

Yami Yugi placed a hand firmly on the Puzzle. "This stays with me at all times," he said sternly, giving Andy a narrow-eyed gaze.

"Don't worry about it," the publicist assured the stylist. "It's like a trademark or something. There's two main things that say 'Yugi Muto' whenever you see him – the hair, and the pyramid necklace. It never changes."

"Oh, fine, fine," Andy sighed. "It's honestly too big and too flashy, but…I suppose if it's your thing…"

"It is my thing," Yugi said, still glaring. "I'll thank you not to touch it."

The photographer was ready, so Andy got shoved out of the way while the professional took over the role of directing and deciding how best to pose and shoot their subject. Yami and Yugi together in this form felt mutually ridiculous turning this way or that, giving the camera certain looks as directed, but the photographer was kind and not nearly as irritating as the stylist and knew how to bring out the best in his subjects. He took a series with cards and without in that black outfit, and then they had Yugi switch to the buckled vest and jeans for variety's sake, trying some of the same poses over again. By this time, Yami Yugi was having a difficult time mustering even his "come duel me" daring smirk for the camera, and simply looked cool and aloof and dangerous with only a stare and not a smile. Finally, a good hour and a half after starting, the photographer checked his camera and gave him a friendly grin. "I think that's it. That should do."

Yugi wilted in place, having had quite enough of the stupid poses trying to make him into a sex symbol with his cards. "Thank you," he groaned. "If you don't mind, I'd like to change back into something more comfortable. It's…cold outside." The office staff all agreed, and when he came back out of the bathroom, it was just regular old Yugi in his long-sleeved shirt and jeans, brushing back the bangs which Andy had tried hairspraying into place. While he was packing up his backpack and looking for his coat, the publicist came back in and handed him an envelope. "What is this?" he wondered.

"Your paycheck," she said as if it were obvious. "Mr. Pegasus said that you're to be paid a percentage of the agreed salary when we see you, since there isn't a way to know exactly how many times between now and the tournament that we'll call you in."

"Oh…okay," Yugi said innocently. "I thought I was just going to get it all at once, when it was over."

"Oh no," the woman smiled. "Mr. Pegasus wouldn't let you go that long without being paid. He insisted."

"Oh. Well, thanks. Thank you very much." Yugi bowed politely and headed out, returning the wave Andy gave him from across the room while he went through the photo thumbnails with the photographer.

It was with great relief and welcome that Yugi found Marik waiting for him outside the Industrial Illusions building, bundled up in a nice warm coat for once. "There you are," he said as Yugi approached him. "I was beginning to wonder. How long does it take to snap a couple of pictures?"

"An hour and a half," Yugi groused, clapping a hand to his forehead. "It was a real photoshoot, like I was a model or something. I even had to change clothes!"

"Oh no," Marik said, unable to keep from laughing. "Sounds terrible."

"It was," Yugi insisted. "That's okay, I made Yami help me. He's much more suited for all the looks they wanted me to give the camera anyway."

"Oh, that had to be interesting." Marik shrugged a shoulder. "Come on, let's get out of here. We can walk back, or take a bus I guess."

"What, no motorcycle?" Yugi pouted as they started down the sidewalk.

"No, sorry," Marik said with a shake of his blond head. "I sent it back with the boat. If we end up here longer than a month, it needs to get sold so we have the extra money."

"Aw…I'm sorry to hear that."

"It's all right." Marik smiled appreciatively. "It wouldn't have done me any good to cling to it if I'm just going to get rid of it. It's okay. Maybe I'll save up, and someday get a new one."

Yugi nodded and shifted his backpack higher onto his shoulder. "So…what have you been up to the last few days? Settling in?"

"Mostly," Marik replied with a glance around them. They were just casually walking up the street, there was no possibility that anyone passing them by could overhear private conversations or would care. "We've been working on more traditional routes of finding out who this imposter archeologist is and what he's after. Maybe, if we can stop him before he finds out about you and the other Items you hold, we can avoid a lot of trouble and let you get back to worrying about tournaments."

"That would be nice," Yugi agreed. "You said you may have found something?"

Marik tucked his hands warmly into his coat pockets. "Well, we know by now that the academic credentials he used to get into the country and gain a meeting with Ishizu were false. He didn't even bother to use realistic credentials in case we checked them, he completely made up the university he was supposed to be from. Not to mention, he gave us a false name."

"So you have no idea who he really is."

"We didn't. But Ishizu has connections – we ran his picture through Interpol." Marik gave him a subtle grin of malice. "It made them sit up and take notice. He's a wanted international criminal."

Yugi stopped in his tracks, mouth agape. "What?"

"That's right." Marik waited for Yugi to collect himself and start walking again before continuing his explanation. "His real name is David Archer – American – and he's wanted by Interpol mostly for smuggling and trafficking in antiquities. Nothing like killing or drug smuggling or anything violent. He's one of those people who helps buy or steal rare artifacts and treasures from countries where it's really hard to get them from. They didn't have any information on where he might be located or working from, their last sighting was somewhere in Europe and they were really interested when Ishizu told them he was in Egypt." With his eyes forward and down toward the sidewalk, Marik frowned darkly as he walked. "The Egyptian cultural ministry is very serious about keeping artifacts in the country, where they belong, they're part of our history and cultural heritage. Loaning objects to museums is one thing, but they get really upset at people who try to buy and smuggle artifacts out of the country for personal collections or to be sold on the black market."

Yugi strode on in silence, digesting this. "So…looking for rare artifacts like the Millennium Items is what this guy does."

"It sounds like it. But according to Interpol, he's just a low-level criminal, a thief, a…what do you call it? When your job is to sell stolen items you've acquired."

"Uh…a fence?"

"Yeah." Marik frowned even more deeply. "So, unless this is some kind of unusual circumstance, there's a possibility he isn't looking for the Items for his own personal reasons. He may be working for someone else."

"I don't like the sound of that," Yugi sighed. "But, at least you know who he is, now."

"Yes," Marik said, "and what's more, now that we've alerted Interpol, there will be international police forces looking for him. Especially in Egypt – the cultural ministry would have no problem authorizing police to hunt him down if he might be trying to steal and traffic Egyptian artifacts." He gave Yugi a slight but confident smile. "So if all goes well, they'll arrest him somewhere far from here and you won't have to put up with me and Odeon any longer."

"Aw, I'll put up with you anytime," Yugi assured. "But yeah…I imagine we'll all feel a lot better if the authorities can track him down and stop him before he gets near a single Millennium Item."

"Well, they've got alerts out now," Marik said calmly. "If he tries to fly to Japan now, they'll catch him on the spot. There's no way he's getting to Shadi, I can promise you that – the ones in danger are the ones here."

They walked on together in silence for a while, thinking their private thoughts, including the pharaoh who was listening to their conversation from within. He whispered something across the bond with Yugi, making him lift his head and speak up again. "Marik…do you suppose we should warn Bakura?"

Marik looked sharply at him. "Bakura?"

"You know, since he holds the Millennium Ring again."

"Oh…" Marik sighed. "I hadn't thought of that. Maybe you're right." He glanced sidelong at Yugi. "Do you think we can trust him?"

"Well…" Yugi felt his face flush with shame that he was thinking such adversarial thoughts toward someone who was supposed to be his friend. "Yeah, Bakura's okay. I mean…I don't think he knows how the Ring got back to him. The spirit of the Ring is dangerous, we all know that, but what can he do to us now? If we're warning him about someone who might try to steal the Ring?"

Marik gave a sudden visible shiver. "I can remember that evil face like it was yesterday," he breathed. "I know I made a pact with him, and tried to count on him to help me, but I should have known better. I thought I could control him."

"But you never really met the _real _Bakura," Yugi insisted. "Ryo Bakura is a nice guy. Sweet, gentle…totally the opposite of the spirit. He's been my friend since Duelist Kingdom, he even helped me save the Puzzle from…" He stopped in mid-thought and suddenly laughed. "From you!"

Marik stared. "Really?"

"Yeah! Wow, talk about your weird connections." Yugi shook his head with a chuckle. "I hadn't thought about that. That's kind of funny. Anyway…" He sobered and glanced at Marik. "For Ryo's sake, we need to tell him. I don't know what the spirit of the Ring will do, but I'd rather protect Ryo than freak out about his other side."

"Yes, you're right," Marik nodded. "Now that he is in possession of the Ring, he's in the same danger as you."

"He's in university now, just like Joey," Yugi mused. "I saw him not too long ago, he gave me his phone number. I can call him up…"

"It would be best if we arranged to meet him somewhere private," Marik said darkly. "I don't want to take chances, particularly if the spirit awakens and decides to make some noise."

"All right. I'll take care of it," Yugi agreed.

Though Ryo Bakura had started university a full year after Joey and Yugi, it was Joey's contention that he must have tested up, because he saw Bakura taking classes at a level equal to him. They didn't have any together, but they did occasionally see each other crossing campus, so Joey was able to tell Yugi now and then that Bakura was alive and well and seemed to be doing fine. They hadn't been in contact, however, so when Yugi called Bakura later that evening, he was met with a warm note of surprise and a desire to chat for a little bit to catch up. Bakura had homework to do, though, so Yugi cut it short and steered around to the reason he had called in the first place. "It's about the Millennium Items," he said hesitantly.

"The Millennium Items?" Without being able to see him face to face, it was hard for Yugi to tell whether the concerned note in Bakura's voice came from a sudden shift to the Ring spirit's presence. "What about them?"

Yugi sighed shortly. "Bakura, I…I know you have the Ring back," he confessed. "I don't care how or why, it doesn't matter. But don't be afraid, because I know."

There was a little noise over the line, as if Bakura had recoiled in fear from the phone. When he spoke again, his voice was even softer than usual. "I'm sorry, Yugi. I don't know, either…"

"It's not the point," Yugi quickly assured him. "Can I ask a favor of you? Can you meet me somewhere, so we can talk about it?"

"It's kind of late, and I have a lot of homework…"

"Not tonight. How about…tomorrow night? Somewhere really private, where it wouldn't look weird if we ran into each other…"

Bakura thought about it. "How about the park? I know it's an odd place for people to meet at this time of year, and it's cold out, but…there probably wouldn't be anyone else around."

"Sure," Yugi said. "At eight tomorrow? Is that too late?"

"No, that's fine. I can be there." He sounded suspicious. "What is this all about, Yugi?"  
"I'll explain everything face to face," Yugi promised. "I'm going to be bringing someone along, an old friend, who might be able to explain it better."

"All right, then," Ryo agreed. "The park at eight tomorrow night. Well…I guess I need to get back to my homework."

"Okay, I'll let you go," Yugi said, amiably enough. "Night, Bakura. Have a good one." As he hung up, Yugi was aware of the pharaoh's spirit beside him. "I just know that as soon as we start talking about the Ring, the spirit is going to come out," he sighed in Yami's direction. "I don't want to face him. I don't think I can. But Bakura needs to know that he might be in danger."

"If it makes you feel any better," Yami said in return, "I will take control in order to talk to Bakura. If the spirit decides to play rough, he'll have to contend with me."

"Yeah…sure…" Yugi wrapped his arms around himself, setting one hand lovingly on the Puzzle. Anything further said between them was mere thought. _As long as Bakura knows that we're his friends. Just make sure you tell him that, Yami. No matter what that dark spirit says_.

Thanks to the cold snap that enveloped Domino in chilly gray skies and stormy seas, Yugi bundled himself up warmly in a thicker coat and gloves before going out the following night. He just told his grandpa that he was going to see Marik, which was partially true. He walked to Marik's flat and warmed up for a few minutes chatting with Odeon before he and Marik headed off to the park, trying to keep conversation light in case the mood would be changing upon making their meeting. A few light snowflakes drifted down out of the darkened sky on them as they entered the park and followed the sidewalks to the designated meeting place, all talk between them ceasing. As they neared the rendezvous, Yugi murmured under his breath, "I'm going to let Yami handle this."

"Okay," Marik said back. Their eyes were forward, searching the darkness ahead for a glimpse of the one they expected to meet, but he guessed at the moment of change when it seemed his companion walked a little straighter and lifted his head proudly. Marik brushed away a snowflake that had alighted with a chill on his cheek, and then he saw it. "Someone's coming towards us," he noted.

"Yes, I see him." They kept walking, until the figure on the path ahead crossed under a streetlamp. It was clearly Bakura, the collar of his navy peacoat turned up to keep his neck and face warm. He must have spotted them as well, for he paused under the light and waited for them to approach with a wary look on his face. Yugi's hair was enough to identify him even in silhouette, but as soon as the two of them came into the light, Bakura's brown eyes widened. "Bakura," Yami greeted him.

"Is that…Marik?" Bakura breathed.

Marik smiled very faintly. "You remember?"

"It's…kind of hard to forget." Ryo Bakura's eyes shifted to the one who had called him there. "Yugi…"

Yami did not correct him, as for now, he was essentially operating as Yugi, with his partner's consent. Yugi's spirit remained tentatively bonded to him, listening and watching but not interfering. "I'm sorry for the clandestine meeting in the middle of the night," he said quietly. "But there is something going on that you need to know about. This is the safest way."

"I see." Ryo's eyes kept going from one to the other in curiosity. "If it involves Marik, then it certainly must be something."

Marik grew rather serious. "Yugi said you had regained possession of the Millennium Ring. That makes you an unwitting participant, and we had to inform you before something happened to you, or it. Do you recall anything about how it got back to you?"

Bakura shook his head, his brown eyes wide and innocent. "I know nothing," he said plaintively. "Usually, whenever the spirit of the Ring is active, I just…black out, whether for minutes or days. I woke up one morning, literally, to find the Ring laying next to me on my bed. I've been afraid that I might have done something to you in order to get it back, under the spirit's control," he added to Yugi directly.

Yami shook his head. "However it got to you, I never noticed," he confessed. "I couldn't even say whether it happened by mystical powers or under a more mundane circumstance."

"That's good," Ryo sighed. "I'd hate to think I – well, that is, the spirit – hurt you."

Despite the friendship between Yugi and Ryo, they stood far apart at opposite ends of the pool of light cast off by the streetlamp, all three of them with their hands in their coat pockets while snowflakes occasionally drifted between and onto them. "It doesn't matter how you got it," Yami went on in his usual solemn tone, "the fact is you have it. I'm not here to ask for it back or to take it from you. You have a connection to it, so it may be safer in your hands after all." He glanced aside at his companion. "Marik has come because someone is seeking the Millennium Items. You and I have a number of them, therefore, if this person learns of their whereabouts, he will come here looking for us."

Brown eyes widened again. "Who? Who is dong this?"

"A thief, an international smuggler," Marik replied. "We're still working to find out as much about him as we can. We don't know who he's working for, or if he's after the Items for his own sake."

Bakura shook his head in disbelief. "But…why? What does he want with them?"

"We don't know yet. My family and I have been watching over the pharaoh's tomb, and we chose to act quickly to make sure the pharaoh is protected. We're still gathering information."

"But the fact remains that there is someone out there," Yami added gravely, "and if he finds out that in their history the Puzzle and the Ring were brought to Domino and given to the two of us, he will search for us. And we don't have any way to predict what he will do when he finds us, or what lengths he will go to in order to get the Millennium Items away from us."

"We have to stop him," Bakura cried, quivering. "He can't have our Millennium Items. Not if he's going to steal them or hurt us…"

"I know," Yami said as gently as he could. "That's why Marik is here. He is looking after the Items in his own way, and passing along the information they uncover in Egypt. I thought it would be best if you knew, so that you could be protected also."

"You thought of me…" Ryo lowered his head, so that his sheaf of silvery hair hid his eyes. "Thank you."

"Of course. We are friends," Yami said, though the sentiment in his voice came from his partner's spirit. "I would never leave you to face this kind of threat in order to protect myself alone. If you bear the Ring, you must be on your guard against anyone who might be after it."

"I don't suppose there's any way we could convince you to return the Ring to the pharaoh and let him guard it?" Marik asked warily.

"Of course not," Bakura said, a little more sharply. "The Ring is mine."

Yami scowled; he had sensed the change come over Ryo, but hoped against hope that Yugi's wish of friendship might get through to him before it was too late. "I was afraid of this," he muttered.

Lifting his head, Bakura gave both of his companions a nasty little smirk. Marik growled under his breath. "I see. It's you."

"Why, Marik," the spirit of the Ring purred. "It has been a long time, hasn't it? It's good to see you again, even if you have given up your pursuit of power to fawn at the pharaoh's feet like a good little dog."

Marik bristled, but Yami held up a hand to caution him. "You heard everything we told Ryo, didn't you?" he said to Bakura. "Someone is hunting the Millennium Items."

"Well, I'll be damned if I let anyone lay so much as a finger on my Ring," Bakura snarled. "You should know that, pharaoh."

"You should give the Ring back," Marik argued. "There's no sense in risking yourself, it was doing just fine with him. It rightfully belongs to the pharaoh."

"On the contrary." Bakura eyed them both with contempt. "You have no idea who it rightfully belongs to. Just because he's the pharaoh doesn't mean he has a claim to all seven Items. Then again…" He smirked condescendingly. "How could you know? The true history of the Millennium Items is no longer written for the likes of mere tombkeepers to read, and _he_, well…" He laughed snidely at Yami. "He doesn't remember a thing. Do you, pharaoh?"

"And I don't suppose you're of a mind to share," Yami smirked right back.

Bakura tossed his hair flippantly. "I'm not the sharing type."

Marik glared at him across the pool of light. "We could have just left you to fend for yourself against this threat, be glad we cared enough about Ryo Bakura to let him know."

"Oh yes, I am grateful for that," Bakura admitted casually. "To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Should any mere mortal come sniffing around for my Ring, he'll get a nasty surprise. Even if doing away with him inadvertently helps you." He threw a scornful look at Yami.

"Don't make any rash moves," Yami warned. "If this smuggler is working for someone else, it would be better to find out who, lest he decide to send more of his men after us. My main concern is Ryo's safety."

"He is quite safe with me around," Bakura muttered. "I wouldn't let anything happen to him. He is my vessel, I need him."

"That hasn't stopped you from abandoning him before," Marik retorted.

Bakura growled at him. "Don't speak as if you know what really goes on inside here," he said, tapping his forehead.

"You forget, I poked around in there for a brief time," Marik smirked. "Not only did you sacrifice Ryo, you completely failed, almost taking me with you. Ryo deserves better."

"That's not for you to decide," Bakura snapped. "If you really do only care about Ryo, then you have nothing to worry about. He is in my hands, and I will make sure no one threatens him. We are in this together." He shifted his gaze to the stern pharaoh again. "That rankles you, doesn't it? To have to consider me an ally?"

"We are not allies," Yami said curtly. "I have no need for you at all. I came to warn you out of courtesy, and concern for Ryo. If anything, it is you who will have to rely on me. Stomach that however you have to," he added with a grim smile.

"I don't need you either," Bakura said darkly. "I can take care of myself. But thanks for the heads-up. Should you find yourself wanting a safer place for those other Items you have, well…I'd be happy to take them off your hands."

Yami glared. "That won't happen."

Bakura smirked. "Of course not."

"Will you back off, and let me speak to Ryo?" Yami demanded. "I want to assure myself that he understands the danger he's in before we part for tonight."

"Actually, for once I've been letting him listen in on everything," Bakura said, seeming a little too happy about it. "It concerns him, he should know. But this is all rather nebulous, pharaoh…" He eyed them through the snowflakes. "How do I know you're not baiting me to give up the Ring, or having a bit of fun at my expense?"

"Marik's presence should be proof enough," Yami replied. "He's not here all the way from Egypt for a vacation."

"The smuggler in question has been to see my family, asking all sorts of questions trying to find out about the Millennium Items and where they're being kept," Marik related. "I came to protect the pharaoh. It wasn't my intention to have to also protect you."

"I told you, I don't need your protection," Bakura sniffed. "Fine. I will be on my guard, as I always am. But don't expect me to come rushing to your side if _you_ need protection, pharaoh."

"It is my hope that we don't have to speak to each other over this matter again," Yami said bitterly. "International authorities are hunting down this person, they may take care of it for us."

"Lucky us." Bakura turned to go, glancing back over his shoulder at them. "Enjoy your stay in Domino City, Marik. You'll find it a much colder place than you may last remember. I hope that delicate desert constitution of yours doesn't suffer too terribly."

"Bastard," Marik hissed. "Yugi came to warn his friend of danger, and this is how you repay him? Perhaps I'll let the crook come and find you, and steal your Ring, and then perhaps you'll leave Ryo Bakura for good."

Bakura's sly eyes narrowed with a wicked glare. "No one will be stealing anything from me," he declared in a low, seething voice, and turned his back on them. A few quick strides carried him out of the light from the streetlamp, and out of their presence.

Yami stood for a moment watching, to be sure that he had departed, before turning and nodding to Marik that they were safe to leave also. They walked back the way they had come and left the park, though they waited until they reached more well-lit streets before breaking the tense silence between them. "Well, that went better than I expected," Yami sighed.

Marik gave him a disbelieving look. "Better? Are you kidding?"

"I had a strong feeling we would come face to face with the spirit of the Ring sooner or later. We were talking about someone possibly stealing his Millennium Ring, of course he was going to show himself." Yami kept his eyes focused on the wet sidewalks in front of him as they walked side by side. "Yugi expected it as well. That's why I took over."

"Ah. I figured as much." Marik shrugged under his heavy coat. "The best of intentions are fraught with disappointment. At least we did as we intended, and warned Bakura. Do you think he'll be all right?" he added with a glance at his companion.

"I may not like that dark spirit," Yami mused, "but I believe him when he says he will make sure no one steals the Ring. It makes its way back to him of its own accord, it has a connection to him almost as strong as mine to the Puzzle. Ryo may be fragile and uncertain of his safety, but Bakura will see to it that no harm comes to him." He smirked sideways at Marik. "His self-preservation instinct is incredibly strong."

"So I've noticed." Marik huffed a sigh, his breath clouding in the chill air. "I still don't trust him, but I guess we have no choice but to take him at his word. Not only because we don't want to see the Ring lost like the Eye, but because Ryo should not be made a victim. On that, I agree."

Yami's voice dropped to a dreadful, serious level. "Marik, when you next speak to your sister, tell her I hope that she and the international police can stop this plot against the Items before it comes here. Enough innocent people are under threat now, I don't want it to escalate any further."

Marik glanced aside at him, studying his inscrutable expression for just a moment. "Yes, my pharaoh," he breathed. They walked the rest of the way home in silence, with snowflakes tumbling around them.

"Hey," Joey said as he and Yugi lounged on the living room floor going through their dueling decks. "I wanna do something huge for Mai's birthday."

It was a random night in November, nothing of note had been going on since Yugi's secret meeting with Bakura and he was all too happy to hang out with Joey upstairs while Grandpa Muto handled the late shift downstairs. The best friends hadn't gotten much of a chance to visit lately, between Yugi being away, Joey having class and occasionally work, and the undercurrent of danger Yugi was facing. Rather than make serious plans to go out, the boys just flopped on the floor upstairs to geek over their decks under the pretense of deciding whether to restructure and add new cards before the world tournament. Yugi gave Joey a curious look. "When is Mai's birthday?" he asked.

"Couple of weeks. It's not any kind of milestone, but…" Joey made a shy face. "This is the first time I've ever been able to celebrate her birthday with her. I wanted her to see how much she means to me, how much her friends care about her."

"Well, that makes sense." Yugi shuffled his cards together and set his deck aside. "Do you have any ideas, or you just know you want it to be huge?"

"I dunno…" Joey was sprawled on his side, propped up on one elbow, with all his cards strewn about in front of him. He rested his head on his hand and looked at Yugi. "I thought about maybe asking Duke if he can set aside one of the dueling arenas in his shop for a private party. You know, kinda take over the whole floor and game or hang out or whatever."

"Oh, that sounds cool!" Yugi crossed his legs and sat up excitedly. "I bet Duke would be happy to reserve an arena for a private party. Especially if it's Mai, and all of us."

"Yeah," Joey said. "I know she doesn't know a whole ton of people here in town, but I can invite some of the people she actually likes at work, and some of our friends. Maybe use it to introduce her to folks, too."

Yugi grinned. "If you plan it for the full moon night, Yami can come too."

"Oh yeah!" Joey brightened up. "Okay, that takes care of what day to have it." He raised a finger warningly. "But no saying anything to her. I want to surprise her."

"No problem. A surprise it is." Yugi then thought of something, and his smile began to fade. "Uh, Joey…that reminds me. I'd have a couple of people to bring along, but I don't think that should be part of the surprise. To either of you."

"Eh?" Joey pushed himself up to a seat. "What do you mean, Yug?"

Yugi seemed to curl into himself, growing shy all of a sudden. "Promise you won't be mad that I didn't tell you right away?"

"Why would I be mad?" Joey wondered. "What's goin' on, Yug?"

Yugi took a deep breath and sighed it out, unable to lift his eyes to meet Joey's questioning gaze. "I might be in trouble. There's someone after the Millennium Items. But I didn't want to tell you," he went on right away, though he heard Joey gasp, "because of who came to tell me about it. I didn't know if you or Mai would freak out to hear he was back."

Joey frowned in confusion. "Who?"

"Marik."

"…oh." Yugi looked up to find Joey sitting across from him with a conflicted look on his face. Most of it didn't seem negative, though there was a hint of uncertainty about him. "Marik, huh?" he added after a bit.

"Yami and I talked about it. We remember what Mai said to you when she was under Dartz's control, about how she still had nightmares about what Marik's evil half did to her," Yugi tried to explain. "That's why we weren't sure we should tell you that he's here. He did worse to you," he said more softly, "but I know after the tournament was over and we all got back safely, you didn't hold it against him."

Joey nodded absently. "Yeah…I let it go. And I guess…I don't really have any reason to be upset if I saw him again. He begged my forgiveness like crazy. But Mai…"

"I'd have to drag Marik and Odeon to the party with me, so she'd have to confront him there," Yugi worried. "I just don't know if you want to break it to her now, so it's not a surprise, or what."

Joey lifted his eyes and gave Yugi a steady look. "Mind explaining to me just why he's here, and why you'd have to drag him along, first?"

Yugi nodded and quickly related to him what he knew of the sketchy plot and ambiguous details of the threat, but Joey reacted as a best friend should and looked suitably worried. By the time Yugi had explained it all, down to Marik and Odeon being there to serve as the pharaoh's bodyguards, Joey was not as concerned about Mai's feelings as he was his best buddy's safety. Yugi waved it off casually. "It's not like we think there's spies tailing me or bugging the phones or anything, we don't even think this guy knows I exist. It's more of a precaution than anything."

"Well, yeah. And a damn good one." Joey wagged a finger sternly. "Don't take any chances, Yug. Let 'em do their job. They want to be good tombkeepers and protect the pharaoh? Let 'em. I'm behind that all the way."

Yugi blinked at him. "I am, I am," he assured. "So…you see why they'd be there if Yami and I were separate, and out on the town with you guys?"

"Yeah, I get it now." Joey pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "Hmm. Well, let me see if I can hint around and find out how Mai feels before I hit her with any shockers. But I agree…she needs to know ahead of time. I don't want to bring her to her own birthday party and have her run out on me because Marik is there."

"If you want me to tell her all about the Millennium Items…"

"Nah, that's okay. I don't think you should be running around spreading that to everyone you know." Joey gave Yugi a knowing stare. "You haven't even told your grandpa, have you?"

Yugi looked down at his feet. "No…"

"Yeah, you see?" Joey set his hands on his knees and leaned forward determinedly. "You don't like dragging us into the pharaoh's affairs, I know that. You've always been like that. We always get dragged into it anyway, but that's not the point. The point is…this is your fight. The less of us who know, the better, or you're gonna get all of us worked up for nothin' if the guy never shows up here or gets arrested in Egypt or whatever. You know we got your back when you need us, but that doesn't mean everyone has to be kept up to date on the latest gossip from around the globe. Just say the word and we're there, man. That's all it takes."

"Yeah…thanks Joey." Yugi lifted his head and met his best friend's gaze. "All I want is to keep you guys safe. I don't want anyone else becoming an innocent victim. It's happened too many times, I'm finally smart enough to know not to let my friends be the targets of all the weirdoes and villains who want my Puzzle."

"Can't help it, Yug." Joey smacked him on the leg. "We wouldn't be your friends if we weren't there to put ourselves in harm's way for ya. And we'll do it again."

"I just hope I don't have to hold you to that." Yugi smiled warmly.

"Hey, at least this one isn't like all the others. Pegasus and Marik and them? They were all magic and shadow realm and stuff, but this guy's just a regular old crook…right?" Joey grinned smartly. "I can take a guy like that, no problem. You've got nothin' to worry about."

"I really hope that is all it is," Yugi said quietly. "Well, I'll leave it up to you how to handle Mai. But if there's anything I can say to make it go smoother, let me know."

"Yeah. Meantime, if you think you can trust me…"

Yugi blushed faintly. "I'm sorry, Joey. I do trust you…I just didn't want to get you caught in this, too."

"I know you don't. But you gotta tell somebody. Just in case." Joey gave him a brave smile. "It's like you've always got the weight of the world on your shoulders. If anybody's going to help you bear it, I will." He picked up one of his cards – the Time Wizard Yugi had given him so very long ago – and waved it threateningly at his friend. "At least until the tournament. Then, all bets are off."

Yugi laughed. "That's still two and a half months away. Boy, I sure hope this Millennium Items thing blows over before then! I don't want to have to look over my shoulder for two and a half more months!"

"No kidding," Joey pouted. "That'll drive us all crazy. Well, at least this time, maybe you can leave all the heroics to the police and Interpol, instead of taking it on yourself. Not everything is about saving the world, you know."

"I know." Yugi smiled, though his thoughts were slightly more serious. Only Yami heard them. _But most of it is. At least for us_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Chapter 3

A surprise birthday party for Mai would be a fantastic way to enjoy Yami's next day of freedom, the lovers thought between themselves in the intervening days. Absolutely nothing was happening otherwise, particularly not on the Millennium Items front. Once in a while Marik would brief him on what was going on internationally, but none of it was particularly exciting or illuminating. The American smuggler had gone underground, perhaps having gotten wind of pursuit, so much of the time there really wasn't anything happening to report. It didn't relax Marik's vigilance any; on the contrary, he and Odeon were quite alert, and one or the other would drop by the game shop on alternating days just to be a guardian presence. It was Odeon's contention that the longer they received only silence from overseas, the more likely their enemy would suddenly surface in Japan despite all precautions to stop him from doing so, and thus as protectors he and his brother needed to keep a diligent eye out. Yugi thought they were just being very mysterious and over-cautious, but he let them do it anyway. He wasn't about to take their assumed duty from them. They let him go about a normal life without feeling like he was being watched, and seeing how Yugi considered Marik a friend now that he had changed so drastically, the occasional visits were worth it for being able to hang out like a couple of young gamers should.

Even though Joey was making all the arrangements for a birthday bash to end all bashes, he needed some assistance from his best friend, so as the weeks flew by leading up to the party and the full moon, Yugi found himself fielding phone calls and picking up things to decorate in order to help Joey keep it all a surprise. He may have been setting it all up, but it would be up to Yugi and Tristan – and anyone else they could con into helping them – to get the private arena at Duke's game shop ready for a party. And then, with the days growing short, Tristan dumped the rest on Yugi because he apparently was going to be part of an elaborate scheme to get Mai down to Duke's. Being as the party was not on her actual birthday but a few days later, they didn't know how to get her to go along with Joey and not suspect party as the motive. The actual idea had come from Serenity, Joey's sister, who was planning to come into town for the event. All Yugi knew was that it involved going out with Tristan and making phone calls later in the evening to rescue them – he wasn't sure he wanted to know the rest of it. Yugi figured that when he went down there to set up, he would have Yami plus Marik and Odeon, more than enough extra hands to make up for Tristan bailing on him. Yugi sprang the news on Marik during one of his visits to the shop to check in, after Marik related that there was absolutely no new information on the fugitive smuggler or the Items. The young tombkeeper looked startled. "A party?" he repeated. "But I…I won't know anyone…"

"Of course you will," Yugi assured him, "you'll probably know most of the people there. Joey, Mai, Tristan, Duke…well, at least they'll all know you," he added with a sheepish giggle.

"Yes, but will they want to see me?" Marik stared hard at the floor. "I hurt most of them, in one way or another."

"Considering none of them shoved you out of the helicopter on the way back from KaibaCorp Island," Yugi said airily, "I think you have nothing to worry about."

Marik sighed and shook his head. "I suppose this is that eventual moment I knew I'd have to deal with," he mused, looking away. "I can't hide any longer. That's the day the pharaoh will be out of the Puzzle, there's no way Odeon and I are letting you two go anywhere without us."

"I know – and I'm glad," Yugi admitted. "We know so little about the effects of the ritual, I don't even take the Puzzle off at all when Yami's out of it. It would be the worst time for someone to pop up out of nowhere and try to steal it."

"Exactly my thought," Marik nodded. "We'll go with you to this party, but don't be surprised if we stay skulking in a corner all night. Especially if Mai and Joey aren't happy to see me."

Yugi made a thoughtful face, staring at the floor between his feet. "Joey said he would make sure Mai knew, so it wouldn't be a surprise at the party," he mentioned, "but I don't know if he's actually done it. I haven't heard from Mai at all."

At that point, Grandpa Muto came from the back room of the shop carrying a long mailing tube. "Yugi," he called to his grandson, "I think you might want to open this one."

"Hmm?" Yugi took the tube from him and spun it in his hands to find the address label. "Oh! Industrial Illusions – this must be the new posters for the tournament!" he realized.

"Oh, I want to see this," Marik grinned.

Yugi fished a packing knife from under the front counter and pried the cap off the tube so he could slide the rolled-up posters out. There were a couple of very large posters and some smaller, flyer-sized ones that could be handed out to customers. Yugi unrolled the large one and just stared at it for a little bit, not at all sure what to think. Information on how to sign up to compete in regional elimination rounds took up most of the poster, but there was still enough room for a full-figure photo of him, cards in hand, splashed across the left side of the graphic. "Wow," Yugi said after a moment of contemplation. "I really do look more like Yami when we're bonded. I never noticed it before."

"That's right, you said you made him help with the photos." Marik scrutinized the picture. "It's subtle, but yes, I can see the difference. Very nice," he added suggestively.

"Shut up," Yugi pouted. "I can't believe they made me pose like that."

"You make Duel Monsters look so sexy," Marik laughed. "Smirking over your cards that way?"

"Shut up!" Yugi sighed as he held the poster unrolled. "And I have to put this up in here. Great. Now everybody's going to see it."

"And not just here in Domino," Marik smirked. "They'll be all over the world."

Yugi groaned in annoyance. "I know. That's Pegasus's ploy – he's using me as bait to attract the world's best duelists, anyone who wants an honest shot at knocking me out of the place of world champion. I can't imagine these things being up in every game store from here to America and back," he added. "It's too weird."

Marik read over his shoulder. "Regional finals are taking place at Duke Devlin's store?"

"Yeah, because he has dueling arenas. He can run several arena matches and also open duel disk matches at the same time." Yugi laid the flyers aside to let them uncurl from being rolled in the tube and set about looking for something to tack up the poster on the wall near the Duel Monsters cards. Once it was up, he gave it another resigned sigh. "I'm going to have to stare at it for the next month," he complained, "until the regionals are over and the advertisements for the finals come out."

"Are you going to have to go down for another photo session?" Marik wondered.

Yugi groaned. "Probably. Now that you mention it."

Marik gave the poster another once-over and smiled faintly. "Well, I suppose if fate allows that I'm still in town when they happen, I'll have to go watch. Battle City wasn't a normal tournament, at least not for me. I'd like to see one played for fun."

"I still think you should enter," Yugi prodded. "You were runner-up in Battle City, after all."

"I don't know." Marik's brow creased with a frown. "I think there might have been more than a few extenuating circumstances. I would have lost to Joey if he hadn't fainted."

"Kaiba's tournament rankings don't count extenuating circumstances," Yugi pointed out, "it only matters who won and who advanced. You're not a bad duelist, Marik. This could be your chance to prove yourself."

"I don't know." Marik clapped him on the shoulder as he turned away from the poster. "Maybe I want to put it all behind me and just be a fan for once. If there's anything I have to prove, my dueling skill isn't it."

Yugi knew what he meant. "You don't have to prove anything to me or Yami," he said more quietly. "He understands. He's told you a million times."

"Yes, but…" Marik followed him with his eyes as he went back to the counter and tried to re-roll the flyers to make them uncurl faster. "I'm still humbled by the way he treated me. It's not the same as the others – my rebellion against the pharaoh was the culmination of half my life hating him. He may be quick to forgive, but it's not so easy for me to be as quick to forget."

Yugi lifted his head, and to Marik's surprise, he was smiling very sweetly. "Then, if it's hard for you to listen to him, try listening to me instead. I know him, I know his heart, because I'm close to it every minute of every day. He doesn't just say nice things about forgiveness because he wants to make you feel better, he honestly thinks and feels that way. He wants you to forget, and just move forward with your life, because he doesn't want to see you eaten up by your regrets. You may not be able to tell when you hear his voice instead of mine, or see his eyes, but he really does care about people. It's just hard for him to express it because he's so reliant on me to be his conduit."

Marik nodded slowly, accepting but not quite agreeing. "Then, I suppose…it may be different when he has a body of his own."

"It might be," Yugi conceded. "Then you'll know that whatever he says comes from his heart, and isn't influenced by me at all."

Marik gave him a wry smile. "I think by now, the relationship you have with him influences him no matter what body he takes."

Yugi smiled shyly back. "Maybe."

Marik stepped up to the counter and leaned his elbows on it so he could speak confidentially to Yugi. Grandpa Muto had gone back into the storeroom, but he wouldn't have wanted to overhear anyway. "How did you two manage to have a relationship before Shadi brought you the ritual? I know you loved each other but…there's other aspects of relationships…"

Yugi shrugged as though it were obvious. "Inside the Puzzle," he answered in the same low tone. "There's a whole world there, a world of the spirit, where we can be together. It's so cool," he added with an excited hush. "When we first started to meet there together, and think about how we could…be intimate…a new room formed inside the Puzzle's world, like the room of his recent memories. Only this one was a room for us, a special place where he imagined a bed and a nice romantic setting…a place where we could be together comfortably."

Marik nodded in understanding, his eyes lighting up. "His mind is so linked to the power of the Puzzle, I can see how that would be possible. It's a very special kind of magic, Yugi. Until the pharaoh can restore his memories and tap into the full power he possesses, you shouldn't take it for granted."

"Oh, I don't, believe me." Yugi blushed faintly. "We do still see each other in the Puzzle once in a while, though not as often now that we know he gets a body every full moon."

"And everybody knows?" Marik glanced at the ring on Yugi's hand, which laid on the counter between them. "How serious it is?"

"Oh, yeah. And everyone's been really good about it." He cocked his head curiously. "Come to think of it, apart from surprise, you didn't seem that taken aback by it yourself when I told you."

Marik looked genuinely confused. "I don't know why you think I should be. I was surprised that the spirit of the pharaoh could be so involved with someone living, but it's starting to make sense. I'm sure it'll all click when I see him with my own eyes." He leaned in close again, his blue eyes shining with wonder. "Is it possible…I mean, I don't want to intrude on something so private, but…is there any way I could maybe…witness the ritual? I'm really curious how it works. I'm no stranger to shadow magic, I want to see it. But only with your permission – I don't want to intrude."

Yugi blinked at him in surprise for a moment, but before he could consider a response, he heard the pharaoh's voice in his mind. "I think that would be a good idea. I won't be embarrassed if Marik is there to witness."

"Really?" Yugi turned his attention inward. "Are you serious? But…we've always been alone for it, just you and me. Because of what usually happens right away after you wake up…"

"I know," Yami said patiently, "but Yugi…lately it has been affecting you. You've been knocked out twice now. I'm worried about you."

A strange feeling jolted through Yugi's heart as he contemplated this. "You want him to be there so he can watch out for me, not watch the ritual."

"It is because I love you and I don't want to see you suffer," the pharaoh insisted. "If a third party can witness what happens in that final moment of the ritual, the point at which you've been losing consciousness, perhaps we can find something to prevent it from happening."

Despite his momentary flash of discomfort bordering on jealousy, Yugi understood and sighed internally. "All right. If it'll ease your mind…"

"It will indeed," Yami said gratefully. "Very much so."

Yugi returned to the present and the hopeful gaze Marik was giving him across the counter. "Yami said it's okay," he replied as if to explain his brief silence. "He wouldn't mind you being there to witness it."

Marik straightened up with a little gasp. "Thank you," he breathed. "It would be my honor. Has anyone else ever been allowed to see it happen?"

"Joey did, once," Yugi remembered, "but that was well over a year ago. It's been just the two of us ever since. I warn you, though." Yugi couldn't help but blush. "He comes out of the Puzzle naked."

Marik blushed as well as he gave a start. "Oh! Well…I won't look," he promised. "I feel very honored, thank you both."

Yugi smiled kindly, but did not tell Marik of Yami's true motive for having a witness. Some part of him hoped that his spiritual partner was merely exercising his right to be overprotective, and come the night of the ritual everyone would see that there was nothing to be worried about, but somehow not even Yugi believed it himself.

Some days before the party Yugi finally got the phone call he had been expecting for nearly two weeks. He had just gone upstairs after a shift when Grandpa yelled up to him that Mai was on the phone, so Yugi hurried to pick it up, guessing that Mai was calling him from work. "Hey, Yugi," she said, sounding friendly but with a tone of polite restraint he could barely discern. "Listen, I'm sure Joey's told you by now – tomorrow's my birthday," she began. "He and I are going to do something just the two of us, but I thought maybe in a few days when Yami is out and about again, we could all go out. Like, a double-date or something."

"Oh," Yugi said in surprise. His mind scrambled to come up with an excuse that didn't sound hollow; _this wasn't part of Joey's plan!_ he fretted. "You noticed it was the full moon, huh?" he stammered into the phone.

"Yeah. I thought it would be kind of nice, you know? Joey's sister is coming into town to visit this week, but she has some kind of date with Tristan that night, so it would just be the four of us. Joey said if I wanted, I should give you a call and find out whether you had plans already."

_But Joey told me…oh no. What do I say?_ "Um, well…no," Yugi said without thinking, "we don't yet. Yeah, I…I knew it was your birthday coming up soon but I didn't want to go making plans if you wanted to keep it just between you and Joey…"

"Nah," Mai said with a tiny chuckle. "That's tomorrow night. So, what do you say?"

"Um…there's just one little problem," Yugi said uncomfortably.

Mai's voice went immediately serious. "Yugi, I know about Marik being here. Joey told me everything. Including how you're in danger of being stalked or mugged or something over your Millennium Puzzle!" she added with a concerned cry. "You be careful, kiddo!"

"I am, I am," Yugi assured her. "That's why Marik is here."

"Yeah, so I hear. He's your bodyguard now or something." Mai sighed shortly. "Look, Yugi, it's all right. You don't have to be worried about me. I can handle the occasional unpleasant reminder of the past, it's not going to make me freak out or run for the hills or anything. If you have to drag Marik along so he can guard you, that's all right. I'll deal with it just fine."

She sounded as firm and self-confident as ever, Yugi knew to trust Mai when she was so certain of herself. Even so, he wanted to be sensitive to her feelings. "Are you sure, Mai? I wouldn't want to put you on the spot. Unfortunately, Marik seems to want to stick to me and Yami like glue while Yami's…out. He's afraid of what might happen if anyone were to catch us in that position."

"Well, he's not stupid, I'll give him that," Mai said wryly. "Seriously, Yugi. It's all right. As long as he's okay with being a third wheel…or a fifth, I guess, technically."

"Okay," Yugi said hesitantly. "As long as you're sure."

They made plans as if Yugi expected to keep them, knowing full well in his heart that somehow Joey's big elaborate scheme with Serenity and Tristan and Duke was going to render those plans moot and they'd all be partying down at Duke's anyway. Joey called him the morning before it was all to happen to confirm that Mai had made plans and assured Yugi that it was just all part of the ruse and he should just go with it. All that remained before their day of fun, then, was the ritual.

Marik sat in Yugi's desk chair in his room, watching him pace and listening with amusement to tales of the pharaoh's exploits in the flesh while they waited for it to be midnight. Yugi fiddled with his special ritual safety pin, turning it over and over between his fingers, while he rambled about long walks in the park and ice cream dates, shooting the clock occasional glances. "Well, if the ritual really is so the pharaoh can interact with the living world again, and remember what it's like to be hot or cold or hungry or tired or any of the things people are," he mused, "then I think we're still using it for the right reason. We may have had a selfish idea at the core, but really…you can only make love so many times before you get tired." He grinned at Marik. "After that, we _have_ to go out in the world, and experience life."

Marik grinned back. "I wouldn't know, I don't have much experience in that department."

"I'm sorry…" Yugi clapped a hand over his face in embarrassment. "You don't want to hear me talk about sex, I'm sure."

"No, it's okay," his friend assured him. "I may not be experienced but I'm a lot more…how should I say it? Worldly…? Than my sister or anyone in the town where we live," he explained. "I've been around the block, I'm no prude. I know about things that would probably make Ishizu blush and leave the room." He lowered his gaze, looking pensive and wistful with his eyes shadowed beneath thick lashes. "I've had to think about it a lot. Now that I'm not chasing around the world like a power player and am trying to settle down to a normal life…"

Yugi paused in front of him, smiling kindly down at him. "Looking around your town for a girl to settle down with?"

"That's just it…" Marik was sitting sideways on the chair, and folded his arms on the back of it. "Odeon made some kind of joke about meeting a wife last year and I felt…strange, like…uncomfortable, almost."

"Well, you are young," Yugi pointed out. "You're what, eighteen, nineteen?"

"Eighteen. I'll turn nineteen in December."

Yugi shrugged. "I know traditions in some countries are different, but that's way too young to get married in my opinion."

"It wasn't that," Marik murmured, resting his chin on his arm and looking away. "I just couldn't see myself getting to know a girl and all that. I'm not really that interested in them."

Yugi cocked his head curiously, his hands going still for once, the pin held precariously between his thumbs. "What about guys?"

Marik lifted an eyebrow in his general direction. "I hadn't really thought about it too deeply. But…I guess that's possible. Isn't it?"

"It's not that unusual. I mean, look at me – I never thought I'd be in this situation, where I'm in love with another guy. It just happened, and I'm comfortable with it now. But, I don't know whether that's taboo in your part of the world or not…" Yugi added sheepishly.

Marik raised his head and laughed a little. "I'm not a Muslim, Yugi," he said plainly. "I was brought up by my family with the idea of the pharaoh and the ancient gods of Egypt. I guess you could say I don't subscribe to any belief system," he added, giving a little shrug. "Since the pharaoh is real…and we're a few minutes away from being able to touch him."

"Yeah," Yugi breathed, unable to stop himself from grinning excitedly. "Well, in that case…I guess, give it some thought. It may be no more complicated than you just not being ready for a relationship with anyone right now, boy or girl, and there's no sense pushing it. Just be yourself and enjoy your life, and someday the right person will come along to share it with you. Even if that person…well, happens to be a boy." He glanced at the clock by his bed and gave a small start. "Oh! It's almost time. Let's get ready."

He fetched the pocket watch that he used for the exact countdown to midnight and went to kneel in his usual spot on the floor. Marik pried himself out of the chair and stepped around him. "Where do you want me to be?"

"Hmm…well, Yami usually materializes right across from me," Yugi murmured, "so…maybe come sit next to me. Marik," he added as the young tombkeeper crouched beside him, "there is an important reason Yami wanted you to be here…"

Pale blue eyes widened. "What is it?"

"You see…the past couple of months, when we perform the ritual, I…I've fainted at the end of it." Yugi faced his friend with solemn eyes. "Yami is worried about me. He wanted you to be here to watch over me, and make sure it goes all right."

"Well…yes, of course, Yugi," Marik said immediately. "Anything you need me to do."

Yugi glanced at his watch. "Just catch me if I fall, I guess," he said with a wry grin before focusing completely on the seconds ticking away. It was time to begin.

Marik crouched on one knee beside him, watching, listening, enraptured. The incantation spilling from Yugi's lips filled him with a familiar warmth, as if a portal had been opened to the desert sands of his youth to give him the tiniest glimpse of home. He had never heard or read this spell before, but he could catch a few of the words here and there, from his studies and his knowledge of the ancient scriptures. It was that more than anything that awed him, for a surge of light and power emanating from the Eye of the Puzzle was certainly nothing new or unusual to him. He noticed almost right away why there was concern about the ritual, because he could see Yugi growing breathless, drops of sweat beading on his brow, and noticed his hands trembling as they held the Puzzle. Marik was distracted for only a moment by the streams of energy now pouring out of the Puzzle, collecting into a whirling galaxy that gradually coalesced into form, but he heard Yugi take a big gulp of air before completing the final line of the incantation, and looked in time to see the Puzzle explode with light. He could feel it in his chest, as the power shot through the room, but then Yugi was falling backwards and Marik had to lunge in to catch him. Yugi collapsed into his arms senseless, his head flopped back and eyes closed. Marik called his name, trying to reach him, but it was clear Yugi was out cold. Then, he felt the presence of another person in the room, and barely glanced up when he realized someone was falling to his knees beside him, nudging him out of the way in order to gather Yugi to himself. An indescribable astonishment paralyzed Marik as he looked to behold the pharaoh for the first time.

Yami's attention was purely on his partner. "Yugi…Yugi," he called softly, touching the young one's face. "He's fainted again," he sighed. "I knew this would happen. Yugi…"

Marik pushed himself to his feet to be out of the way, leaving Yugi in Yami's care, though he merely stood aside and stared in wonder. Despite his promise some time ago, he couldn't help but look upon the pharaoh's naked form, though the way he crouched with Yugi in his arms hid anything embarrassing from view. Collecting himself, Marik did the only thing he knew how to: he stepped around Yami and went to the bed where the bathrobe had been laid out, and draped it around the pharaoh's shoulders.

Yami glanced up as he felt the softness and warmth of the garment being laid on his shoulders, and smiled wanly at Marik. "Thank you," he said quietly. "I'm sorry, Yugi was my first concern."

"It's understandable," Marik said with a shake of his head. "You should take care of him."

Yami stroked Yugi's cheek delicately. "He's not waking up," he said worriedly. "Marik, can you tell me…what happened? Was there anything strange about the ritual's end that you noticed?"

"No…not really," Marik replied. "When he completed the incantation, there was a burst of power from the Puzzle…and he fell back unconscious. That was it…I jumped in and caught him, so I'm afraid I wasn't paying attention to your appearance."

"It isn't me who causes this," Yami said darkly, frowning. "It's the ritual itself, then."

"Is there anything else I can get you…my pharaoh?" Marik asked timidly.

Yami remained silent for a moment, cradling Yugi in his arms. "No," he murmured, "thank you. It's all right, Marik…" He glanced over his shoulder to where Marik stood shyly waiting. "You and I are friends. I don't need a servant."

"All the same…"

At that moment Yugi took a deep breath as he awoke. Yami held him tighter, bending his head over him. "Yugi? Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

"Yami…?" Yugi blinked up at him drowsily. "Did it happen again?"

"Yes," Yami said seriously. "You've been unconscious for over a minute."

"Oh…" Yugi closed his eyes again and sighed. "I'm sorry…"

"Don't worry about me. Are you all right?"

"I think so…" Yugi pushed himself up with Yami's help, and sat there for a moment blinking and regaining his balance. While he rested, Yami slipped his arms into the sleeves of the robe and settled it properly onto his shoulders, wrapping it around himself to cover his nakedness in front of a guest. At last, Yugi was able to look up and remember that Marik was there with them. "I guess Yami was right," he said with a woeful little smile. "It's a good thing we took the precaution."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Marik asked him worriedly. "I haven't felt something that strong in a very long time. This ritual is tapping into some very deep shadow magic, powers I could only dream of."

"I'm fine," Yugi assured. "My head is clearing, I feel okay. You think it's the shadow powers that are doing this?"

"Maybe." Marik frowned thoughtfully at him. "But you've been to the shadow realm before, you've survived shadow games just fine."

"Not all of them," Yugi sighed. "It's just…this only started happening recently. We did it just fine for so long, there weren't any adverse effects at all."

Yami offered his hand and helped his young love up to his feet, so they could face Marik directly. "The truth is, we know so little about the ritual," he said in a dark tone. "Almost anything is possible."

As Yami straightened up beside him, Marik suddenly averted his eyes shyly. "You should be careful," he said, more to Yugi. "These powers aren't to be taken lightly."

"I don't take them lightly," Yugi said seriously. "Yami and I both know what we're getting into, and why. I just have to get tougher." He lifted his face to his lover and gave a cute smile. "You'd think that after all the times I've been inside the Puzzle, I'd be in much better shape mentally. Falling into that trance is easy."

Yami smiled back and then leaned in to kiss him, for the first time that night. "You are much stronger than you used to be," he encouraged. "We'll see. Perhaps there is something I can do to work with you and strengthen your spirit."

Yugi leaned into him, accepting the arms that came around him, but glanced aside at Marik still standing there with them, studiously keeping his gaze lowered. "Well, there you have it," Yugi said softly. "That's the ritual. And here's Yami."

Marik lifted his gaze very cautiously, taking in the couple with some interest before focusing solely on the pharaoh and the gentle smile on his lips. He gave a small gasp and just stared, not thinking at all about how much Yami resembled Yugi, or how much he didn't, only on the fact that he was gazing at the personage his ancestors had served and hoped would return someday, finally revealed in his own form. Yami reached and laid a hand on Marik's shoulder, firm and solid, and Marik nearly wilted to the floor in his awe. Five thousand years of history had finally been made flesh right in front of his eyes. Somehow, he couldn't remember how or why he had ever rejected this person and tried to destroy him. He found tears springing to his eyes, but blinked them away. "Pharaoh," he breathed reverently. "It really is an honor."

"Please, Marik. Just call me Yami, as Yugi does."

Marik shook his head furiously. "I can't," he complained. "I just can't. You're the pharaoh. You're the one my family has been waiting for all this time. How is it that I'm the one who finally gets to look upon your face? I…I betrayed you. I hated you…"

Touched, Yami let go of Yugi and placed both hands on Marik's shoulders, forcing him to face him. "You've seen me before," he reasoned. "You and I have faced each other and spoken to each other many a time…"

"But that was through Yugi. He was still part of you, or you part of him, either way," Marik argued. "This time…it's just you. All you. Like you should be." He placed a hand over the one on his right shoulder, as if that was all the further he could bring himself to touch Yami. "You aren't just a spirit, a memory, a fleeting hope…you're flesh. You're real." He laughed weakly. "Ishizu would have fainted a long time ago just from being able to see you. Let alone touch you…"

Yami lifted one hand from his shoulder and placed it on his cheek instead. "And here I thought being able to touch me would be proof that I'm just like you or Yugi or anyone else – I'm not better in any way." He smiled wryly. "So much for that idea."

"I'm sorry." Marik shook his head. "I'm trying not to be weird about it, I really am. I can't help it. Watching you materialize through a ritual to free you from the Puzzle makes you a lot more real than you were before, I didn't realize how much until I stood before you. And now I know my place. I am your servant."

"I told you, I don't need servants," Yami insisted, taking him by the shoulders again. "I need friends. I know you're here to protect me, but do it as my friend, not out of duty."

Marik lowered his head, but still managed to keep his gaze. "Would you mind if I stayed here tonight, then? Now that you're here, I want you to be protected every minute of the day, asleep or awake." He glanced at Yugi, who stood aside watching with a little smile. "I'll just sleep on your couch. As long as I can stay within reach of the pharaoh."

"Sure," Yugi answered him. "I don't mind. I kind of figured you'd want to stand guard anyway. As long as you do get some sleep, and don't actually _stand_ guard." He suddenly blushed furiously. "Because I'm feeling a lot stronger now and I think maybe Yami and I might be…awake…a while longer…"

Marik held up his hands in caution. "No, no, I'll leave you two alone," he assured frantically. "I'll go sleep out there, I won't intrude. Really. I just feel like I need to fulfill the duty I came here to perform – to protect the pharaoh."

"Whatever pleases you," Yami said kindly.

Marik hurriedly wished them a good night, and Yugi brought him a blanket so he could curl up nice and warm on the couch in the living room and sleep the rest of the night away. Only then could he escape to his room and the loving embrace of his partner, who had been waiting eagerly for them to be alone. As much as he would have liked to just go to bed and allow Yugi some time to rest and recover, Yugi insisted he was fine and proved it by instigating a rather hot and heavy makeout session. That was all he got, though, for the longer they took to touch and hold and kiss and explore, the later it got, and the sleepier Yugi became. Eventually, he curled up on his side in Yami's arms and allowed his tiredness to get the better of him after securing a promise that no matter what time they woke in the morning – and regardless of Marik being in the next room – they would make love like they hadn't in months. Yami glanced to see a pair of purple satin ropes tied lovingly in a bow around Yuki's neck, as he sat in the little shelf above the head of Yugi's bed watching over them, and smiled. Oh yes, he vowed, they would certainly make love in the morning. And then some.

Grandpa Muto was not entirely surprised to find Marik curled up on the couch under a warm blanket in the morning, looking rather angelic with his unruly straw-blond hair framing his face as he slept peacefully. He had finally forced the true, complete story of the Egyptians' extended visit out of his grandson not long ago, and was not so dumb as to be unable to connect Marik's presence to the full moon ritual. Grandpa puttered about taking care of his morning coffee and the paper and getting ready to open the shop, leaving Marik to sleep since the door to Yugi's bedroom was still closed and not a sound came from beyond it. Even so, Solomon was still in the kitchen when he heard a soft stirring and glanced through the door to see Marik sitting up and stretching. Marik gave him a contrite look as Grandpa Muto appeared in the doorway, cradling his mug of coffee. "I hope Yugi didn't keep you up too late," he smiled.

"No," Marik sighed, "I went to sleep after the ritual was over. I'm sorry – I hope I'm not imposing…"

"It's all right," Grandpa Muto assured with a wave of his hand. "I understand why you're here. You may as well come in here and have some breakfast – knowing those two, they'll be in bed a while longer. Sleeping in," he added in explanation. "I give Yugi the full moon days off of work, so he can spend time with Yami."

"Ah," Marik nodded, though he had admittedly thought of the pair doing other things in bed besides sleeping in. "You know everything about their relationship, then?"

"Of course I do." Grandpa gestured for Marik to come with him as he returned to the kitchen and went about taking dishes out of the cabinet for his guest to use. "I know Yami is an ancient pharaoh with a great weight on his shoulders, but he also happens to be my grandson's boyfriend. He's a part of our family, and I wouldn't have it any other way."

Marik smiled kindly and thanked him for his hospitality, and then added, "I'm here to protect them both, you know. I'll make sure nothing happens to Yugi."

"That's good." Grandpa gave him a smart look. "Keeping him out of trouble may be too much to ask, but at least someone else has an eye on him besides me." He picked up his mug and gestured with it in the general direction of the living room. "The remote should be on the table if you want to watch TV or something. Maybe the noise will wake those two sleepyheads up."

"Thank you," Marik said, "but I really only need one thing. If I could use your phone to call my brother and let him know everything is all right here…"

"Sure. It's in there." Grandpa Muto smiled as he headed out of the kitchen and down to the game shop. "I wouldn't get too anxious waiting for them to come out of the bedroom if I were you. It'll be a while."

As of that moment, Yugi was in a position he rather liked, his arms splayed out on the bed and lashed securely down with the purple play ropes. They had finally found a way to tie them to the frame of the bed, lacking bedposts for convenient bondage, and were fully engrossed in elaborate foreplay. Yugi was doing his best not to cry out too loudly, in case someone in the next room heard him, but Yami was taking his time getting them both worked up to where restraint would be required and likely very difficult. At least both partners were already naked. With Yugi tied down beneath him, his fingers curling and uncurling into loose fists, Yami crawled over the top of him and lovingly tortured him with kisses to every part of him. Yugi's lithe little body arched into his touch, seeking as much of his warmth and kiss as he could get, since the ropes made it impossible for him to clutch and hold and wrap himself around his lover. Yami held him down with firm hands on his hips, lavishly kissing his stomach and abdomen and moving lower to lick teasingly at the tip of the erection jutting impatiently up towards him. Yugi threw his head back and gasped out loudly. "Yes," he whimpered, "please, Yami…"

The pharaoh chuckled deeply at the reaction and licked him again, a little more roughly. "Like this?" he murmured, his tongue darting out to wet his own lips.

"Oh…yes…" Yugi breathed hazily, writhing underneath his lover in such a way as to lift his hips yearningly towards him.

Yami's hands slid along Yugi's thighs as he reclined on the bed, propping himself up on his elbows in order to get good position for a lengthy session. He toyed with his lover first, kissing and licking along the insides of his thighs, first one side, then the other, leaving wet trails running down towards the center. Yugi had to clench his jaw to keep from crying out, his arms straining against the bonds holding him in place. Placing his hands gently on Yugi's thighs to push his legs wide, Yami descended onto his erection, licking and tasting first before closing his lips around the head and suckling indulgently. Yugi stretched and strained, gasping, as Yami's weight on his hips held him down completely while he greedily sucked him off. Every so often, the pharaoh's elegant violet eyes would open just enough to glance up and give Yugi a sensual look, though his lips and mouth never left Yugi's cock for a second. Whether from his youth, his impatience, or his simple joy at finally being pleasured by his lover again, it didn't take long for Yugi to come, biting his lip to hold back his voice as he felt himself quake and explode into the waiting mouth. Yami swallowed with a decadent purr and licked his lips, though a trace ran down his chin and dripped onto Yugi's abdomen. He prowled over Yugi, lowering his head and nuzzling along his chest, neck, and up to the hollow of his throat. "Don't think I'm done with you yet," he murmured. "We've only just begun."

Yugi turned his head enough to kiss the lips hovering over him, nibbling at them and licking Yami's chin clean. "Promise?" he whispered into the space between them.

Growling playfully, Yami clutched his neck and tilted his face up for a ravenous series of kisses, stopping only when he felt the need to reach down and close his hand around Yugi, to tickle and tease him back to hardness. He knew it was working when Yugi tried to thrust up into his hand, his whole body heaving with the effort until he huffed a short sigh and groan. Yami's hand slid even lower, his fingers slicked with his lover's essence, and probed testingly at his opening. "Gently," he warned with a smile. "You're so impatient."

"Yami," Yugi panted, "let me go. I want to…I want to touch you…"

The pharaoh nuzzled him and nipped at his earlobe. "I thought you wanted to be tied down."

"I know," Yugi sighed. "Sorry. Just let me loose. Please?"

Without a word Yami reached up and fumbled with the knots binding Yugi's wrists, one after the other, and freed his hands. Yugi slumped for a moment to catch his breath, and then was reaching out, splaying his hands eagerly over his lover's bare chest. Moaning softly, Yami fell down onto him, and the two wrapped each other up in their arms, kissing and snuggling. Yugi pulled his partner into him and desperately clutched at his back, stroking his fingertips across the pharaoh's smooth, perfect skin as if it were the finest silk that he couldn't stop touching. He could feel the hard shaft poking him in the abdomen, and slid his hands down around Yami's ass in order to pull him into himself, encouraging a teasing thrust. Yami obliged without hesitation for a while, rubbing himself against Yugi until he was dangerously close to climax, his lover's fingers groping fiercely across his ass. Both were properly aroused now, and after a moment's pause to properly lubricate, Yami sat back on his knees. Yugi laid back willingly to receive, though now that his hands were free, he could repay the teasing by stroking himself in full view of his partner, moaning temptingly. Yami seemed to be in a savage mood, for the tease only made him chuckle darkly under his breath and grab Yugi's legs, pushing them wide and back, tilting his hips up to receive. Yugi's eyes widened, but he had asked for it and panted eagerly as he saw he was going to get it. He rested his legs against his partner's shoulders as Yami leaned forward, making penetration a natural and easy next step for them both. He grabbed for Yami's muscled arms as the pharaoh's hands clutched around his ribs, each bracing himself against the other. Yami rested himself against the ready opening, shifting Yugi's whole body up and back with a push, and thrust his way inside.

The pharaoh's sinewy body shuddered with the force of his thrust, as he bent his back and pushed forward, lifting Yugi nearly off the bed. Yugi's mouth fell open and his eyes squeezed shut as he gasped audibly at the mix of pain and pleasure that came at the start, as it did every time. He tried to hold on, but as Yami braced himself and began a slow rhythm, Yugi's arms fell away and he was soon groping across the sheets for a handhold, his body bent in submission. Yami thrust roughly into him, his head bowed, his back tensed, his shoulders pushing against Yugi's thighs as he rested his hands on the bed to give himself more leverage. As the body beneath him grew adjusted to his intrusion, he found it easier to slide in, and thrust with even more power, quickening his pace. He could feel the knot growing inside him that wanted release and rocked faster, harder, trying to push himself to that point. Yugi could no longer stop himself from giving short cries at each thrust, though they were light and breathy enough to escape notice unless someone were right outside the door. Yami felt the touch of sweaty palms on either side of his face, and glanced up to see Yugi demanding his attention, cupping his face so they could meet each other's gaze. A hazy, eager smile dashed across the pharaoh's lips, and he bent himself just-so in order to keep that promise, to stare straight into Yugi's eyes as he held on and watched and felt himself being brought to the brink of orgasm. With his hands braced on the bed on either side of Yugi's shoulders, Yami didn't think he could go any faster, but he could try harder, using his entire body to thrust forward and up into his lover. Yugi's hands tightened around his face, the violet eyes across from him widening as he felt the first hint of release sear through his abdomen. The toes over Yami's shoulders began to curl. Filling his chest with a deep breath, Yami lifted a hand and fisted Yugi's erection, stroking hard as he reared back and gave a few last thrusts, his body trembling and pulsing with electricity as he gave in and let himself come. Even as he stiffened and held himself in place, buried deep in Yugi while his body emptied itself, his hand continued to give Yugi's erection short jerks until Yugi caught his breath and then gave a cry of release. Hot, wet, and sticky, they both slumped, and let go.

Yami pulled out and fell onto his back beside his lover, his hand dripping, his stomach splattered, his bangs disheveled. Yugi rolled over and climbed on top of him, moving the Millennium Puzzle out of the way so he could lower himself fully onto Yami and wrap his arms around him, kissing his neck and chest for a while until they had both caught their breath enough for a prolonged kiss to the lips. Yugi curled his arms around the pharaoh's neck and nuzzled him tenderly, breathing in the mingled scents of sex and sweat that clung to his skin like perfume. "Wonderful," he murmured with his face pressed into Yami's shoulder. "That was so wonderful."

Yami held him close and buried his face in his young love's wild hair. "So much for my idea with the ropes…"

"It's okay. We don't need them." Yugi nuzzled and kissed him some more. "It was just as good without the help. Mmm…you're so wild today."

"Is it any wonder?" Yami kissed his forehead. "With such a delicious and beautiful lover throwing himself at me?"

Yugi lifted his head with a little purr. "Maybe I'll throw myself at you more later," he suggested with a naughty smile. "Duke said he's got some kind of DJ coming in for the party."

"Oh?" Yami's brow lifted in curiosity, and then a cool, eager smile replaced it. "Sounds like a good time. I can't wait."

"Later, though." Yugi laid his head back down on his lover's chest and snuggled into him. "Let's not get up yet. I want to be all hot and sweaty together for a while." He tilted his head just enough to give Yami's collarbone a little lick. The pharaoh chuckled and tightened his embrace, sliding his hands all the way down to Yugi's ass in order to caress and fondle him to his heart's content. After quite a long while, when getting up to shower started to sound like a rather decent idea, Yugi breathed a deep sigh of contentment that sent a warm draft across Yami's chest. Then, he shifted his head and made a little noise like the clearing of his throat. "Uh oh."

"Hmm?"

"I hope we haven't annoyed Marik by leaving him all alone."

Yami gave him a slight grin. "Marik who?"

Marik sat on the couch leafing through the morning paper, looking for news from overseas, when he heard a door down the hall creak open. He glanced up to see two figures creep into view and pause just long enough to discover his location and give him a smile. Yami wore the bathrobe again, Yugi had his pajama top hastily thrown on – and buttoned askew – and was blushing as he noticed Marik. "Um, we'll be right out," he said sheepishly. "We're going to take a shower, first."

"That's fine," Marik said. "Take your time." He looked past Yugi to where Yami stood, and noticed the pharaoh looking rather rumpled and a little flushed about the cheeks. Yami gracefully guided Yugi along with an arm around his shoulders, flashing Marik a subtle smile before they both disappeared down the hall to the bathroom. Only then did Marik grin knowingly, and a little enviously, before returning to the newspaper.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Chapter 4

The cold snap that had plagued Domino City through the first part of November had finally eased up enough to allow four young men to head out into the elements without being bundled up to their ears, though two of them still shivered a bit in the chill and kept their hands in their coat pockets. Odeon also had a cloak wrapped around him so the hood could cover his mostly-bald head. Yugi brightly led the way with a bag of supplies in his arms, since it had been made his responsibility to decorate. "It's so nice of you guys to help," he said over his shoulder as they walked, him and Yami in the front. "You really don't have to, Yami and I can do it."

"As long as we're coming with you, we may as well," Marik said. "Besides, you need someone tall to reach the tops of the doors, don't you?"

Yugi shot him a scowl, but Yami just laughed. "Yes, I'm sure we will," he conceded.

Marik had left their company for only a short time earlier in the day, in order to run home and change, but Yugi and Yami were not going anywhere until it was time to head to Duke's and start setting up for the party so it was safe for their guardians to be away for those few minutes. They just sat around with Marik most of the day and talked, speaking of deeper matters connected to shadow magic and the pharaoh's history, or what little of it Marik knew. He even consented to removing his shirt once more so Yami could inspect the writings on his back in more depth, without an audience, and shivered a little at the touch of the pharaoh's fingertips on his skin. But it didn't illumine Yami any more than it had the first time, so they let it be and turned to other topics of discussion. At last, after a good long day of being idle, they met Odeon in the afternoon, while it was still light out, and walked down to Duke's game shop.

Across the city at the same time, Joey sat in his living room grumbling while Mai and Serenity giggled together in the spare bedroom, trying out different outfits for Serenity's "date." Even though he knew it wasn't going to be a real date, but a pretense for him to get Mai to the party without her realizing she was being duped, Joey's big-brother instincts were on high alert. Tristan's assurances had fallen on deaf ears, to Joey this was cause for him to be concerned about just what Tristan or Duke might do with his little sister. Especially now that Serenity was growing into a young woman in her own right, a cute teenager with all kinds of boys flocking to her at school. While she wasn't dating anyone specifically at the moment, she was more than aware of her pull on the opposite sex and had been the one to suggest this particular ruse in order to keep Mai completely in the dark. She and Tristan were going out, and at the right time in the evening, Tristan would call Joey for advice because Serenity had insisted on going to visit Duke at his shop and now he couldn't get her to leave. The fact that Mai had planned to double-date with Yugi and Yami made it even better, because she would be so annoyed at being dragged on a rescue mission and thus making them late to their own date that she would never suspect a surprise party. Joey didn't know why he couldn't just take her there and not tell her why until all the people sprang out of the shadows, but it apparently wasn't up to him anymore. The door buzzer just made him grumble even more as he got up and went to let Tristan in. His friend was grinning widely when the door opened on him. "Joey, my man…" he began.

"Shut up," Joey growled, turning and stalking back into the flat, leaving Tristan to close the door behind himself.

"Why, I'm fine, thank you for asking," Tristan went on blithely to prod him about his lack of manners. "And you? Or dare I even ask?"

"Ah, it's nothing." Joey flopped back down in his chair. "It's just the two of them, carrying on like girls." He thumbed toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"Well, they _are_ girls," Tristan noted. "That's what they do."

"I guess." Joey turned his head a moment to listen to the lilting chatter coming from down the hall. "It's just weird, you know? I only get to see Serenity once in a while when she comes to visit, I don't live with her every day so I don't get to see this side of her. It's kinda shocking realizing that your little sister is a big girl now, who chases boys and goes on dates."

"It's not a real date," Tristan reminded him. "We're just gonna go walk around and maybe get a snack before we head to Duke's. I left Yugi high and dry to do this, so I should really go down early and see if I can't help him out with the last bit of it."

At that moment Mai came from the second bedroom, so the two boys immediately hushed. "I thought I heard the door," she said as she came into view. "Hi Tristan. Serenity will be out in a minute."

"No hurry," Tristan assured. "What's up, Mai? Oh…happy birthday, belatedly."

"Thanks." She folded her arms and cocked a curious look at him. "Where are you two going?"

"Oh…out," Tristan said airily. "I thought I'd let Serenity decide. She hasn't been here long enough to see the sights since Battle City."

"Just don't make it too late a night." Mai smiled. "Joey and I might still be out when you guys get back, so I'm letting her have my key for tonight."

"Oh yeah, you guys are going out with Yugi and Yami. Say hi for me."

"Sure." Mai smiled and turned to go back and see how much more Serenity had to do before declaring herself ready for her date. As she disappeared, Joey and Tristan shot each other a sneaky, knowing smile across the living room.

While an unsuspecting public browsed the shelves and blew their cash on cards and dice upstairs, one of the lower level dueling arenas in Duke's shop was being converted into a party zone. He had set aside the entire floor for the party, so guests and friends didn't have to mingle with customers at all. The DJ arrived shortly after Yugi did, so he got to watch him set up the sound system and check it with some loud, pounding techno music. At first, Yugi wasn't sure how they could make use of the dueling and dungeon arena as dance floor and mingling space, but Duke excitedly went to the controls for the floor and told him to "watch this." At his command, the walls around the arena lowered to a mere quarter of their usual size, and the dueling stations at either end sank completely into the floor and disappeared, leaving a nice wide space with the card-field grid and two places through which people could enter and exit. "A new modification the KC guys made about a year ago," Duke bragged. "Converts it to be compatible with the duel disk, so you can play an open duel like you would anywhere else."

"Cool!" Yugi crowed. "I see! So the dueling arenas aren't obsolete compared to the duel disk."

"And now that Kaiba's announced that whole wireless thing, it'll be even more important. Not to mention, it makes for a great dance floor," Duke grinned, heading off to show the DJ where to set up.

With the help of his friends and his lover, Yugi took charge of decorating, making sure not to leave any balloons or signs hanging where anyone walking down the hall from the elevator could see them. Other than that, he managed to complete the transformation from gaming arena to party room, finishing ahead of schedule so he and the others could sit down and watch the caterer setting up food. "Duke's store must be doing really well," Marik mused, "for him to be able to afford this kind of party."

"I think the DJ is a friend of his," Yugi said, "and he can do anything with the arenas that he wants. But yeah, the food is a nice touch. I hope Mai likes it."

Yami came up behind him and slipped his arms around his shoulders, hugging him into himself. "I'm sure she'll be more than touched that her friends thought of all of this," he said kindly.

Yugi glanced back at him. "Oh, what did you do with the gift?"

"There's a table next to the food where they're supposed to go. I put it there."

"Oh, okay." Yugi lunged and smooched him on the cheek. "Thank you!"

Marik glanced away, his hands going into the front pocket on his hooded sweatshirt to find the Duel Monsters card inside and finger it thoughtfully. He intended to gift it to Mai later, as a goodwill token in addition to her birthday, but didn't want to just leave it on the table without a note, so he kept it to himself for now. "So," he began to say, "what now? Have we gotten everything set up?"

"I think so," Yugi replied, forcing himself to turn his attention away from his lover. "All that's left now is to wait for people to show up."

A shout of "Hey, check this place out!" announced the arrival of Tristan and Serenity, as the former came around the corner and beheld the setup. "Dude. If I'd known you could make the place look like this, I'd have had my birthday parties here a long time ago!"

Yugi jumped up. "Tristan!"

Tristan sauntered across the hall to meet the friends coming towards him, but Serenity jumped out from beside him and enthusiastically greeted them with a cheerful, "Yugi!"

Laughing, Yugi caught up her hands. "Hi, Serenity! It's been a long time…"

"I know, can you believe it?" the young girl gushed. Though older by a couple of years and thus taller and more womanly, Joey's younger sister was still as slender and girly-cute as ever, her long auburn hair swept up into a barrette. "Joey's kept me up to date on everybody, though. How are you, Yugi? How's your grandfather?"

"Oh, he's fine," Yugi said modestly. "I'm doing great, thanks."

As she clasped his hands amiably, Serenity glanced down and immediately noticed the silver band on his ring finger. "What's this? You're wearing a promise ring?" Her eyes went wide. "Joey didn't tell me anything about that!"

"Oh, he didn't?" Yugi blushed faintly, moreso because he could sense the presence coming up behind him well before hands came to rest on his shoulders. "Well, I'll have to take that up with him later. He could have told you. Serenity…" He stepped to one side to present his partner. "You remember all the things we said during the Battle City tournament about the pharaoh who lives inside my Puzzle, right? Well…this is him. In the flesh."

Serenity gazed in doe-eyed wonder at the lean, sultry pharaoh, the carbon copy of Yugi now solid and real and clad in a rather slinky shirt. "Serenity," he greeted her in his deeper voice. "I don't think you and I have ever spoken directly, but I remember you. Very much so. It's good to see you again."

It took a minute or two for Serenity to pick her jaw up off the floor and get her mouth working again. "The pharaoh?" she questioned. "But how is that possible? Wasn't he an ancient spirit only you could see…?"

"Yeah," Yugi chuckled, "but you see…we discovered a magic ritual that sets him free from the Puzzle for one day. Er, once a month. It's kind of a long story, but if you want I can explain it."

Serenity blinked huge, dark eyes at them. "A magic ritual. That makes sense, I guess. You've been able to do all kinds of magic thanks to him. I remember some of it."

Yugi nodded, glad that she was able to grasp it without needing details. Yami clasped his hand tenderly, raising it to his chest in a loving gesture. "And, well…the ring is ours," Yugi went on, glancing aside at the sweet gesture with a smile. "Yami and I are together."

Serenity's eyes widened even more. "No way," she breathed. "But…I thought you were going out with Téa?"

Sighing, Yugi shook his head. "We were never going out. We always stayed just friends. And then when Yami and I fell in love…I didn't even think twice."

Serenity covered her mouth with her hand in embarrassment. "Oh," she whispered. "Sorry! I just thought…what she said to me…never mind." She tried to grin. "That was a long time ago, I guess. People really change when you're not looking."

"It's okay," Yugi said with a laugh to put her at ease. "I'm really surprised Joey didn't say anything, at least that I was seeing someone. He's been in on it the whole time."

"Yeah, well, you know Joey," Tristan piped up. "If it's not right in front of his face, he tends to forget things."

"Hey, guys." Duke wandered into their midst, then, aloof and casual. "It's about time you showed up."

"Hey…" Tristan offered a hand, and clasped Duke's amiably. "The place looks awesome. This party's gonna rock."

Duke shook his hand and then flipped his hair back arrogantly. "Thanks. That's the plan. Oh hey, Yugi…" He turned to the pair on his other side. "I gotta go back upstairs for a little bit, and coordinate some things with my managers. You'll be all right down here for a while?"

"Yeah, I think we're all set up, so just send people down here when they arrive," Yugi said, glancing around the room to verify his own assessment.

"Cool. Serenity…" Duke gave her a special smile. "Good to see you."

"Hurry back," she called after him as he glided away, and then giggled to herself.

As Duke headed down the hallway to the elevator, he passed a threesome of young women who looked as though they had to be some of Mai's coworkers from the magazine – tall, hot, and very well-dressed. Duke stopped long enough to say hello, naturally, but then kept on his way as they came in, looking around in curiosity. "I think I'd better go say hi," Yugi realized. "Until Joey and Mai get here, I'm the host, I think."

Tristan couldn't help but stare just a little. "Who are they? Mai's friends, you think?"

"They aren't mine," Yugi laughed. "I think those are people Mai works with. I'll go find out."

He started away, and since Yami was still holding his hand, he got dragged along willingly to help. As soon as they were out of earshot, Serenity sidled shyly up to Tristan and lowered her voice. "So does that mean…Yugi is gay?" she hissed.

"Kinda…yeah." Tristan looked down at her, perplexed. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Serenity assured, "I just didn't expect it. It's kinda weird. How long has it been like this?"

Tristan made a cute face as he thought about it. "Yugi and Yami have been doing the ritual for…oh, about a year and a half, now? Maybe a little longer. But they had a bond way before that. Don't worry, it's not like anyone's kept you in the dark on purpose." He smiled kindly. "Yugi didn't really tell a lot of people himself, until the ritual started to be kind of obvious. He can't hide his relationship as long as he's got the pharaoh walking next to him."

"Ah." Serenity looked past him, to where Yugi was currently hiding behind Yami as he talked to the magazine girls, and smiled. "Well, it does explain a lot."

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Meaning what?"

"Nothing." Serenity smirked up at him. "Just a little something between girls, that I think had better stay that way."

"Excuse me…" A light, reedy voice beyond them got their attention, as a familiar face intruded. "You're Joey's sister, aren't you?"

Serenity and Tristan both stared, startled, at the blond youth who faced them now. "Marik," Tristan realized. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry…I didn't mean to sneak up on you." Marik gave them both a hesitant smile, particularly Serenity. "I had a feeling Joey was the only one Yugi warned about me being here."

"Marik," Serenity breathed. "You're here for Mai's party?"

Marik shook his head. "I'm here for more than that…I just got dragged down here because I'm supposed to be guarding Yugi and the pharaoh. Well…maybe not so much dragged…I'm happy to be here, it's just…" He sighed and tried again to smile. "This isn't working. Maybe I should start over."

Tristan eyed him. "You're not evil again, are you?"

"No, I'm not evil again," Marik groaned. "Look…all that is behind me. I'm a tombkeeper and a faithful servant of the pharaoh, now, like I'm supposed to be. I'm here in Domino to protect him."

"Okay," Tristan said firmly. "As long as that's all it is."

"Tristan," Serenity scolded before turning to Marik. "You've changed a lot. You're smiling, now."

"Yes," Marik said, the fear easing from his heart. "I just wanted to come over and say hi. I remember you…though I'm sure your memories of me aren't something you want to revisit."

Serenity gave him a soft giggle. "It's like I just said to Yugi…that was a long time ago. People change." She cocked her head curiously. "Are your sister and brother here, too?"

"Just my brother," Marik replied, looking around. Odeon, however, was not in sight at the moment. "Without revealing too much, let's just say we're here to guard the pharaoh for a short time. Now that he has the ability to leave the Puzzle from time to time, he's somewhat vulnerable."

At that instant Yugi and Yami returned, the former glad to see that old enemies were chatting as friends now. Before they could lighten the conversation and include everyone, though, more people came in from the hallway. Yugi grinned at his friends. "Oops, sorry. I have to go make nice again. Be right back…"

The guests had been given a window of time in which to make their entrance, so they could all be in position when it was time to throw the surprise. Duke monitored their arrival from upstairs, but when it grew close to the time to spring the trap on Mai, he came back down and mingled with everyone as the party's true host, since it was his shop and his arena. The DJ played a little party music to help everyone loosen up and get to know each other, just some pop hits at low volume, as many helped themselves to drinks and stood around in small knots chatting. At last, Tristan slipped away and went upstairs to use his cell phone to call Joey.

Mai was putting the finishing touches on her makeup when she heard Joey in the next room answer his phone, and then start yelling into it. "What? No, no…I didn't say she could. No way! Tristan, dammit…what about Mai? You do remember that we're going out with Yugi tonight?" There was a short pause; Mai glanced through the door to where she could just see Joey in the bedroom, clawing a hand through his hair. "All right, fine," he groaned. "Don't go anywhere, we're coming down there. I guess Yugi will have to put up with us being late. Dammit, and he doesn't have a cell phone, I can't call him. No, don't – I'll handle this. Okay." He hung up noisily and gave a huge, exasperated sigh.

Mai put away her things and stepped into the doorway, all curious. "What's the matter?"

Joey turned away from her, presumably in anger – but moreso because he couldn't look into her eyes and fib. "It's Serenity," he grumbled. "She made Tristan take her down to Duke's shop to say hi to him, and now Duke is trying to get her to leave with him and go out on their own date. Tristan doesn't know how to get between them."

Mai gave a similar aggravated sigh. "Joey, you don't have to get involved in their stupid three-way drama-fest. Tristan should just be a man and step in and drag her out of there."

"You know Tristan's too much of a softie to do that," Joey complained. "He doesn't want to upset Serenity. But she just doesn't see Duke for what he is – a conniving snake who'll do anything to get in her pants. We've got to go down and pick her up."

"They're at Duke's shop?"

"Yeah. I swear, it'll only take a minute. We'll be a little late, but I'm sure Yugi will understand."

Mai blinked at him. "You should try to call him at his house."

Joey looked at his watch. "Nah, he'll have already left. I hate to do this, but I have to. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, just let me get my coat."

They drove down to Duke's game shop, which was brightly-lit and bustling with activity at such a prime hour, and stalked in. Mai thought to herself that Joey was doing a remarkably good job of keeping his temper in check, though he did look rather annoyed as they went inside and hunted around for Duke. He didn't seem to be on the game floor, nor were Tristan and Serenity. Joey cornered a store employee and asked her a little harshly where Mr. Devlin was at the moment. "Downstairs," the girl stammered. "The arenas on sub-level six."

"Was there a girl with him?" Mai wondered more politely. "About your height, a teenager with light brown hair?"

"I don't know," the employee said with a hesitant smile. "There've been a lot of people in the store tonight. He might have been."

Joey took Mai's arm gently and tugged her along, heading for the elevators to the dueling arenas downstairs. He said nothing as they went, keeping a grim look on his face, all the way down until the doors opened on a dim corridor. Stepping out, Joey looked both ways and decided to head towards the faint light on one end that indicated someone was here by the dueling arena. "Duke?" he called out, and then added, "Serenity?"

"Joey, don't do anything stupid," Mai begged him, walking fast to keep up with him, her heels clicking noisily on the polished floor. "He might just be showing her around, giving the tour like he did me…"

They came around the corner to the arena, and right on cue, the lights came up and a mass of people leaped up out of the arena floor, throwing balloons and yelling, "Surprise!"

Predictably, Mai stopped short and stared, her mouth open. Joey snickered beside her, and then burst into laughter when she turned and shot him an accusing look. "Happy birthday, Mai!" several people called out, as Yugi, Yami, Tristan, Serenity, and Duke came up out of the walled arena area and surrounded her. "What do you think?" Yugi added brightly. "Is this better than going out for dinner?"

Mai stood there for a while, blinking, her annoyance vanishing under a rush of warmth to her heart. All these people were there for her, she recognized most of them either from her dueling career or work as they crowded around her, laughing and raising their drinks in toast. The DJ immediately started the music back up now that the guest of honor had arrived, it thundered through the arena and had several people already bouncing. "I don't believe this," Mai managed to gasp. Another look around revealed the tables of food and gifts against the far wall. "I don't believe you guys!"

"Did we have you fooled?" Serenity asked, rushing up out of the midst of the others and clasping Mai's hands.

"I never…not for a minute…thought…" Mai quivered for a moment, her eyes shining, and then she grabbed Serenity in a big hug. "You silly kid! We thought you were in trouble with Duke!"

"Oh, like I'd really do something like that," Duke snorted. He shot Tristan a scowl. "What did you tell them?"

"Hey, as long as it worked," Tristan grinned, holding his hands up defensively.

"Who did this?" Mai demanded. "Who planned this? Yugi?"

"Nope," Yugi chirped. "It was Joey."

Mai whirled to face her boyfriend, who stood modestly off to the side with his hands in his jeans pockets. He tossed her a casual look. "What? It's just a little party…" She promptly slugged him in the arm. "Ow! Hey! What was that for?"

"You big dork!" Mai accused him. "You went and made a big deal about…about nothing…"

"What? I can't give my favorite person the party they deserve?"

Mai moaned softly and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Smiling knowingly, Joey hugged her back. "Surprise, Mai."

"All right, let's party!" Duke exhorted everyone. "Food's there, dance floor's out there, there's some arcade games and another arena on this floor if anybody wants to duel for fun…"

One by one people came up to Mai to congratulate her and wish her well, so for a while she was occupied with being friendly to all her guests, but then it was down to just her core group of friends, the old gang, who were all too glad to explain how the party had come about and how they managed to keep it from her. Mai smiled warmly at all of them gathered around her. "Thanks, guys," she gushed sincerely. "This is really great. I can't believe you did this." She gestured toward the dance floor with the drink Joey had brought her. "But I don't know everybody here. Who are some of those people?"

"Oh, I thought to invite a few gamers I know," Duke said casually. "You know…fans of yours from way back."

"Fans?" Mai blinked at him. "I have fans?"

"Of course you do," Joey snorted. "Maybe not as many as me and Yugi, but…"

Mai gave him a scathing look. "Make yourself useful and get me some snacks."

"And we'll have cake later," Yugi said cheerfully as Joey vanished to do as ordered.

"Oh, you guys are so sweet." Mai pulled Yugi to her and kissed him on the forehead, making him giggle and blush, and then rubbed away the transferred lipstick before shoving him back into Yami. "Thanks, all of you. Even you," she added, pointing at Tristan. "Making me worry about Serenity…"

Through all of this, Marik and Odeon stood aside near the wall, watching but not interfering. Once people started going for the food they knew they were free to do so, but Marik refrained from going anywhere near Mai for the time being, even if Yugi and Yami were hanging around her. He could watch over them from across the hall. As the group broke up and started to go their separate ways, seeking food or games or dancing, and Mai went to look at the selection of gifts and cards left for her, Odeon glanced down at his half-brother beside him. "I don't think she'll bite," he suggested in a low murmur.

"I don't want to bother her," Marik said with a shake of his head. "Later. When she's in a good mood."

"She expected to see you tonight regardless, did she not?" Odeon pointed out. "She knows you're here. What is it that bothers you so much?"

"Something Yugi told me." Marik left it at that, preferring to go get something to drink since Mai was heading in the complete opposite direction now.

Duke's DJ friend segued masterfully from pop hits to club mixes, ramping up the music and the energy into an infectious party atmosphere. Some of the gamers retreated into corners to duel or play or talk about games, but most of Mai's friends and coworkers mingled on the dance floor, showing their mutual love of dancing. Yugi politely paid Mai some attention for a while before giving in to his yearning to take Yami down to the arena to dance. "Who is this guy?" he asked Duke on their way. "He's great!"

"Just a friend," Duke shrugged. "He spins at a little club that opened this year, it's called Dream."

Yugi gave a start. "Oh! I've been there!"

Duke stared. "You have?"

"Yeah…well, once," Yugi admitted. "One night with Yami, when they were having an after-midnight thing."

"Dude, you should have told me," Duke exclaimed. "I've been there a lot, I could always use someone to go with." He elbowed Yugi in the side. "You and I had a good time in Tokyo…"

Yami appeared suddenly and drew Yugi forcefully to his side, making Yugi grin. "Only if I can go, too," the pharaoh said with a sultry smile before tugging Yugi away to dance like he wanted.

The dueling arena was perfect for dancing, as the special overhead lights and holographic emitters could be used to play sparkling light and graphics over the floor and the bouncing bodies of dancers. Yugi and Yami plunged headlong into the party, losing themselves in the music and each other within minutes of going in. Before too long they noticed Duke join them, and eventually Joey and Mai, as the birthday girl was absorbed into a pack of her trendy fashion co-workers. It was similar to being in the club, except that the crowd was small and intimate and made up of cool people who more or less knew each other. Yugi just danced his cares away, danced for the sheer joy of being with friends – and with Yami. Those who had never seen the pharaoh cut loose were astonished to watch him out there with Yugi, hips swaying and body writhing as if he were created solely for the purpose of moving to the music and seducing with his mere appearance. The lovers swirled around each other in perfect tandem, eyes always locked on each other or closed in ecstasy, hands gliding lightly along each others' lithe limbs. They made it look like so much fun that no one could resist joining them, not even Tristan, who had never been on a dance floor in his life. Serenity thought his attempts to dance were cute and funny, but Tristan was more concerned at that moment with being around his friends, as Duke, Joey, and Mai formed a little circle that he could safely enter and not be thought a fool for missing the beat on occasion. Joey wasn't really any better at it, anyway. All that mattered was having fun, and if their little pal Yugi could go from the shy gamer geek they always thought him to be to that sexy, sensual bundle of energy writhing so skillfully in the presence of his partner over there…then anything was possible.

Marik sat on the low wall of the arena to watch, preferring to stay out of the way for now, as he had never danced nor even considered going clubbing or to parties like this. He, too, was gazing at Yugi with some yearning, wishing to be able to be as fun and carefree as that, but he was too self-conscious to break away from the wall and join his friends. He wasn't really paying much attention to anything else, so the sudden appearance of a curvaceous figure beside him caught him unawares. Mai sat down on the wall next to him, facing in the opposite direction as it would have been awkward and not at all ladylike for her to flash her skirts at everyone on the dance floor. She had refilled her drink and looked rather calm, all things considered. "Hey," she said quietly, glancing aside at Marik so he could hear her over the music. "Gonna sit here and play wallflower all night?"

Marik glanced at her briefly before turning his eyes away, toward his hands clasped in his lap. "I'm not much of a dancer," he mumbled.

"That's okay. Neither is Joey." Mai gestured with her drink to where Joey was flailing helplessly in what could be considered, vaguely, dancing.

Marik chuckled softly, but let it pass. After a moment of silence and no sign that Mai was going away, he turned slightly towards her. "You know that I wish I could take it all back."

"The problem is, it wasn't you." Mai turned her head towards him as well. "You were pretty bad, I'll admit, but you were nothing compared to that dark half. He was the one who nearly destroyed my mind. And he got what he deserved."

"But I'm not completely innocent," Marik admitted.

"No…" Mai sighed heavily. "But none of us are." She sat with her glass in both hands cupped in her lap, her eyes downcast. "Has Yugi told you…what I did to Joey not too long ago? What I did to all of them?"

Marik's eyes widened slightly. "No…he's said nothing…"

Mai's expression had gone blank. "I tried to destroy them, too," she said softly, sadly. "I let someone fill my head with lies until I believed that they had ruined my life, and played against them. I was supposed to hunt them down for their souls, and I succeeded in making Joey lose his…at least, by then I'd snapped out of it. But I couldn't stop what I'd done." Her gaze shifted slightly, searching out Marik but unable to meet his eyes. "You were the seed at the source, unfortunately. I couldn't get your dark side out of my head, I had nightmares about what he did to me. To this day I don't know if it was all just my inability to deal with it, or if there were other forces at work, but…"

"Yugi did mention that," Marik murmured. "He didn't tell me about the rest, though. He only said you apparently had a hard time putting it behind you…"

"Such a nice way of putting it." Mai took a breath and lifted her head. "But it's over, now. I gave myself space, I did everything possible to put it behind me, but I never really totally stopped having nightmares occasionally. At least…not until I moved here." She finally was able to look at Marik, and smile. "I decided that what I wanted most was worth the risks, and went for it. And I'm glad I did. I haven't been afraid of the past once, not even when Joey told me about you and your mission here."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Marik said, clutching at the wall he sat on as if afraid it would buck him off. "I treated a lot of people here like they were worthless, and didn't care what effect it would have on their lives."

"We all make mistakes." Mai shifted her drink into her other hand so she could set one on top of Marik's. Her fingers were cold from the ice in the glass. "Even me. But if Joey could take me back after what I did to him, I can look past what you did. Hell, Yugi trusts you and even speaks highly of you now – if anyone in this world deserves to kick your ass for what you did, it's him. And he won't." Her voice grew sharp and stern. "So stop hiding in the corner moping about your past already and go have some fun. This is my birthday party, dammit, and no one's leaving here moody!"

Marik glanced sharply at her, startled, and caught her sly grin. "All right," he said with a hesitant laugh. "I'll try."

"I'd suggest starting with a drink," Mai sniffed, pushing herself to her feet, "but you're not of age yet, are you?" She nodded towards the catered spread. "So get some soda and some food. It's really good."

Marik remained sitting there a while longer. He looked up as she tilted back her glass and finished her drink. "Happy birthday, Mai."

"Thanks." She winked over her shoulder at him and wandered off.

Marik sat for a moment pondering, and then got up to join Yugi and his partner over where they had gone to take a break from dancing. They stood in a small knot with Tristan and Duke, complimenting the latter on putting together a hell of a party while sipping at their sodas or water to cool off. "Yeah, well," Duke said modestly, "if you can't flaunt what you've got once in a while, what's the good in having it?"

"It's so great," Yugi enthused. "Thanks for helping out. Oh, hey Marik. What's up?"

"Nothing much." Marik glanced at Yami, who stood with an arm slung around Yugi's shoulders. "I didn't know you could dance."

Yami smiled shyly. "Neither did I. But this music is…hypnotic. I find myself unable to resist."

"And you even go clubbing," Tristan laughed. "Man, the rest of us are having a hard time keeping up with you two."

"Hey, I saw you out there trying," Duke teased him. "Emphasis on trying."

"Just because I'm not a club kind of guy doesn't mean I don't know how to have fun," Tristan retorted. He glanced into the empty glass in his hand and shrugged. "Guess I'm off for another round – anyone else want anything? Marik?" he asked, noting that the young man's hands were empty.

"I'm all right," Marik assured.

"Well, if we're not having cake yet, then I want to dance some more," Yugi decided abruptly. He turned to his lover. "Coming?"

"Of course." Yami grasped his hand and turned to go with him back down into the arena space, where some of the other partygoers were still bouncing around. As he did, he gave their companions a sultry look. "Marik? Care to join us?"

Marik shook his head. "Oh, no…I don't know anything about dancing…"

"Come on!" Yugi pounced and took him by the arm. "You won't learn if you don't try! Come on, it'll be fun!"

Despite his protest, Marik found himself being yanked along to the dance floor, accompanied by the grinning pair who both seemed to find the prospect fascinating. Yugi gave him a few encouraging words about just listening to the music and moving to the beat, but he and his partner clearly had more of a grasp of the concept than Marik could admit to. He was trapped, he didn't want to just back away and bolt from the floor now that his friends had gotten him out there, so he stood and watched them for a moment or two before being able to see how the beat moved their bodies. At the moment they weren't dancing nearly as close as before, beside each other and together without being all over each other such that a third party would be left out of the fun. First Marik's head began to nod with the beat, then he was swaying a little bit, and eventually he was actually moving, not nearly with the experience or abandon of his friends but he was certainly not standing still anymore. Yugi laughed to see him letting go, and patted his arm in encouragement before letting himself go wild. Yami smiled across at Marik, letting his expression convey what couldn't be said over the loud music. Marik appreciated the smile and grinned back, getting into it a little more. He may not have known how to dance before this moment, but he was not sheltered – he knew about clubs and techno music. And if the pharaoh could get into it, then so could he. At that point he realized he was getting really warm, and paused to pull off his sweatshirt and lay it on the wall of the arena before continuing in just a sleeveless shirt. Yugi hooted at him to encourage him even further, laughing when Marik grinned shyly at the attention. He fit in well with the other partygoers, in his black shirt and cargo pants, boots, and gold earrings, and the more he loosened up and fell into step with his friends, the more natural he looked out there on the dance floor.

Across the room, Odeon stood with his arms folded and a drink in one hand, watching with amusement as his younger brother swayed to the music alongside Yugi and the pharaoh. By contrast, Odeon was more than happy to keep his wallflower status, as he was even less of the party type and could be content with standing around in the shadows just observing. As he did, he became aware of Mai passing through the crowds of people near him, stopping to exchange words and laughter with someone now and then, but mostly stalking through on her way somewhere, sipping occasionally at her drink. Odeon glanced aside as she passed him and suddenly paused, turning to look out and see just what on the dance floor he was watching. "Good evening, Mai," he said politely. "Are you enjoying your party?"

"Oh, you have no idea," Mai smirked. "How about you? I'm sure this wasn't exactly on your list of things to do while you were in town babysitting the pharaoh…"

"I'm fine." Odeon lifted the hand with the glass to indicate his drink. "I don't mind simply watching the crowd. Dancing is not my style."

"Figures." Mai stood beside him to enjoy her own drink for a bit, her eyes on the dance floor. "He really did get out there, huh? Will wonders never cease."

"It was Yugi. He and the pharaoh dragged him out there."

"Ah." Mai laughed. "Bet you didn't think you'd see the day when your pharaoh turned out to be a bad influence on your little brother."

Odeon also laughed in a calm, deep manner. "All things considered," he said, "this is hardly a bad influence. Outside of our realm of expectations, yes, but hardly delinquent."

"Yeah, he's still a good guy," Mai mused. "They both are – the pharaoh and Yugi. Very much into each other, but still on the innocent side."

"You have seen them often?" Odeon turned toward her. "What is the pharaoh like in his unguarded moments? We spoke at length today, but he seemed to be keeping himself composed."

Mai had to think about it. "Not much different from what I remember when he was dueling," she said after a bit. "Except maybe…he's a lot more relaxed. Not so uptight and dramatic. But," she smiled, "I think that's Yugi's doing. He's brought something out of the pharaoh that he may not have known how to express before."

"I see." Odeon gazed seriously at the friends clustered together in the middle of the dancing throng. "I don't have much to compare it to, since I was considered his enemy the last we met."

"Yeah, well, I haven't seen that much of him either, until I moved here," Mai snorted into her glass. "I always thought it was just Yugi." She lowered her glass and gave the distant pair a wistful look. "They sure do look happy together, though."

"Very much so," Odeon agreed.

Mai glanced at him. "So is life any better on the pharaoh's side than it was before?"

The kind look on Odeon's mature face became a smile. "Much better," he murmured. "My family and I are together, as we should have been all along. I didn't realize until we came home, how much I missed my sister's company. We were apart for far too long."

Mai nodded but said nothing in return, figuring there was no way to respond without sounding trite. They stood quietly there for a bit, savoring their drinks, and then Joey appeared before them, obviously seeking his girlfriend. "Hey, there you are. Hiya Odeon," he added.

"Joey," Odeon said kindly.

"No hiding in the corner," Joey scolded them both with a smirk. "This is a party! Get out and have some fun!"

"I'm catching my breath," Mai said insolently. "What do you want?"

"Nothin'," Joey pouted. "What're you looking at? Oh…" he said when his eyes followed their gazes and noticed the dancers. "Ha, look at that! Yugi got Marik out there dancing! Too freaky."

"Hey, he looks perfectly normal to me," Mai countered. "Yami, now that's weird. I didn't know he had it in him."

"Yugi told me they've been out dancing before, but I never saw it with my own eyes," Joey admitted. "He's usually so quiet. But, I think it suits him. Especially them together." Joey stood with them and watched for a bit, as Yugi and Yami were now slinked up beside each other, swaying in tandem to the pulsing beat with their eyes and smiles fixed on each other. "I tell ya," he said after a long silence, "it's amazing how happy Yugi is when he's with Yami. I've seen him at the top of the world a lot of times, but nothing like this."

"He's always been like that, though," Mai said. "As long as I've known the kid, he's always been the happy-go-lucky type. Nothing ever got him down."

Joey shook his head. "This is different. I can't put my finger on it…it's like you can sense how happy he is, like it's something you can actually get your hands around and touch. It's contagious, it's impossible to be down when they're around you and Yugi's grinning like that." He nodded toward the couple; Yugi was indeed at the moment beaming with the biggest smile as he danced playfully with his lover. "It's all Yami, I know it is. They're really happy together."

"Then, may nothing ever drive them apart," Odeon said solemnly.

"Hear, hear," Mai agreed, raising her glass.

The DJ mixed smoothly from song to song, melding sensual trance cuts with the happier club hits that many partygoers recognized and ran out to dance to. As long as the beat kept going, Yugi and Yami stayed out there, always willing to smile and laugh as their friends wound in and out of their presence like the songs fading in and dying away in their own time. Duke left, Tristan came in, Serenity appeared and disappeared, and Marik gradually picked up on the way the dance worked and fell into step with his companions, never leaving their sides. It wasn't about protecting the pharaoh anymore, it was just dancing, just fun. At the switch of another song, Duke suddenly reappeared and slung an arm loosely around Yugi's shoulder, wearing a teasing smile for all of them. Yugi played along, taking a step aside to make it look like he was dancing with Duke now instead of his lover, though from his smile they knew it was merely harmless flirting. Marik grinned back at him, finding the whole nonverbal interplay silly, until he became aware that Yami had stepped closer to him in retaliation for his partner's abandonment. Glancing aside at the pharaoh's cool, controlled look and subtle half-smile, Marik found himself eager to join him, drawn by his presence alone. For a short space they danced closely together, though still an arm's reach apart and not touching, enough for Marik to wonder what had earned him this solo attention from the pharaoh. Captivated and thrilled, he found it over far too soon as Yugi swept over during a change in the music and threw himself into Yami's arms, giggling as he was whirled around and then wrapped up in one arm so Yami could match him in a sexy sway. Marik could only stand – or dance – aside and watch as the lovers ground into each other, Yugi tilting his head forward and closing his eyes as Yami held him from behind and their hips moved together to the rhythm. It seemed as though they were lost in each other, until the song reached a breakdown and a new, different one mixed in. It wasn't as good, so Yugi lifted his head, breaking the spell, and shouted above the noise, "Come on, I need something to drink."

Hand in hand, Yami and Yugi exited the dance floor, with Marik and Duke both trailing behind, the latter waving to some of the girls from Mai's office who were still bouncing out there, and ogling him. Once everyone had a soda in hand to help cool down, they gathered around in a circle with Joey and Mai and laughed and talked for a while. "Are you kidding? I'm having way too much fun," Mai laughed at her boyfriend. "I don't care what time I have to be to work tomorrow, it'll be worth it. Half my office is here anyway."

"You couldn't bring any models along?" Duke teased her. "When Joey said he was inviting your coworkers, I thought for sure there'd be at least one or two."

"You think I work with the models?" Mai snorted. "Tough break, dice-boy. I'm not that important, not yet anyway."

"They'd probably be too stuck up to give you the time of day anyway," Tristan chided. "Best to stick with what you know."

Duke grinned. "Yeah, there's enough people I know I can flirt with here already. Right?"

"Which reminds me, where is Serenity anyway?" Mai wondered.

"Over there," Yugi noted, gesturing with his cup. As he did, someone by the food turned suddenly and backed into his arm, jostling it enough to spill his soda all over his arm and the front of his shirt. He yelped in surprise, but it wasn't a terrible tragedy. The gamer kid apologized profusely, but Yugi assured him it was okay. "It's a black shirt," he pointed out, "it won't show anything. I'll clean it up, it'll be okay."

"There's a restroom down the hall," Duke reminded him, "by the elevator."

"Thanks." Holding his sticky hand out of the way, Yugi circled his friends and headed down the hall to find the restroom. As he shouldered the door open, he noticed that Yami had followed him, a little smirk on his lips. "What are you doing?" he asked his partner with a laugh. "I can take care of this."

"I'm being a good pharaoh," Yami claimed. "I'm keeping an eye on the Puzzle."

"Yeah, sure you are." Yugi grinned at him as the door closed to, temporarily shutting out the raucous noise of the dance floor – all except for the beat, which could still be felt through the floor. He went to the sink and washed his soda-covered arm off, and then dabbed at his wet shirt with a paper towel. "Ah well," he sighed, "this will have to go in the laundry anyway. Yuck, it's all wet…"

There was a loud click that echoed through the tiled restroom, and Yugi turned to see Yami slinking away from the door. "Maybe we'll have to give it a few minutes to dry," he suggested.

Yugi looked past him. "Did you just lock the door?"

"Yes." Yami gathered his young love into his arms and began to work his stained shirt up his chest to take it off. "That way no one will walk in on us."

Yugi's eyes went wide, though he was grinning eagerly. "Yami!" he cried. "We can't! Not in here!"

"Why not?"

Yugi strained against his arms, though not very strongly, as he realized his only good logical reason had been answered with the locking of the door. "You're so naughty," he breathed, only mildly scolding. "What if someone finds out?"

"I'm not going to tell them." Yami faced his lover's panic with a raised eyebrow. "Are you?"

"No…" Yugi giggled and surrendered, lifting up his arms and holding on to the Puzzle as Yami worked his shirt off and laid it on the edge of the sink, presumably to dry for a few minutes. They could both feel and hear the pulse of the dance music, muted but still present, and swayed against each other as if out on the dance floor for a minute before plunging into a hot, fierce kiss, hands groping for each other's chest or hips. All that dancing had turned them both on, as usual, and not even the threat of their friends just down the hall finding out what they were doing could stop them. With his hands firmly clutched around his lover's ass, Yami turned Yugi and pushed him up against the door, trapping him there while he ravaged his lips and throat with wet, wild kisses. Yugi cupped his hands around his partner's face, guiding his kiss, accepting the eager intrusion of his tongue as the kiss deepened and drew on. Then he was being pulled away, whirled around in time with the distant music, and lowered to the floor. The tile was cold against his back as he laid down and sprawled out with Yami on top of him, still kissing him wildly, their hands meeting and clasping as the pharaoh pinned his young love to the floor. Now they could feel the beat even more viscerally, all through their bodies, and it drove them to urgent need. Yami straddled Yugi's hips and ground down against him in the same rhythm, while he still kissed and then lapped at Yugi's sweaty skin and hard nipples. With a loud party going on outside the door, no one would be able to hear Yugi's desperate cries, as he threw his head back and gasped at the delicious, ravenous treatment of those lips on his body. He began to thrust back against the hips holding his pinned down, their bodies writhing together. When Yami pulled back in order to catch his breath and lick his lips, Yugi sat up sharply, pushing back against him and kissing him again. His hands were immediately on the pharaoh's belt, and he received no protest as he worked his jeans open and slid a hand inside to find a growing hardness.

Yami rose a little on his knees and arched his body gracefully to show how much he enjoyed Yugi touching him, but it was only a tease. He sat back enough to let Yugi go, at which the young one scrambled to get out from underneath him and work his jeans down even further on his hips, crouching in order to touch and then kiss the pharaoh's building erection. Yami sat back on his heels and braced his hands on the floor behind him as Yugi dove down onto him, reclining in his lap in order to take him into his mouth and suckle him wetly. They were both groaning, both hot and willing, when Yami decided he was ready and lifted Yugi's head with a fingertip to his chin. Grinning in wordless agreement, Yugi straightened up and favored his elegant lover with a long, probing kiss while hands groped down his body, found his waistband, and began to pry his pants off. Yami pushed him back, then, and finished tugging the tight jeans off him as Yugi sprawled back on the floor, holding himself up on his elbows. Yami crawled over him, reaching to trace a finger over his young lover's lips and then plunge it into his mouth, smirking sensually as Yugi's lips closed around it and his tongue swirled playfully around it. So prepared, Yami withdrew and reached underneath Yugi instead, probing to find his opening and stroke inside him, his finger warm and wet compared to the cold, hard tile of the restroom floor. Yugi yelped and squealed in anticipation, spreading his legs wide. Within moments Yami was inside him, bending him nearly double on the floor as he thrust hard and fast. There was nothing around him to hold onto except Yami, so Yugi clutched at his lover's arms, digging his fingers in, his legs crooked and wrapped high around the pharaoh's torso. The throbbing dance music pounded through the floor and into their minds, providing them a punishing rhythm to match as Yami bent his head and thrust his hips forward and up, driving himself deep. It was a difficult position to keep on the slippery floor, though, so when he paused for breath and to shake the hair out of his eyes, Yugi pushed a little on his chest. "Wait, wait," he murmured. "I have an idea."

"Oh?" Yami glanced at him, and followed his instruction to pull out for a moment. Yugi sat up and then turned over, bracing his hands and knees on the floor and smiling over his shoulder. Yami got the point immediately, and curled up against him, wrapping an arm around him in order to pull him back into himself and kiss his shoulder before searching out the ready opening and falling inside again. Yugi cried out in pleasure, rearing back into his lover, and braced himself for even more. Now they were matched exactly as they had been on the dance floor, back to front, hips together, so they could undulate and writhe and thrust together to the music. Yami kept one arm around Yugi, holding him tightly, and rested his cheek on his young love's shoulder blade as they simply, blatantly fucked on the restroom floor, enjoying every minute of it. Yugi grasped for his partner's arm and clutched his hand over Yami's as he neared climax, the Puzzle swinging down and thumping against his arms now and then, and pushed back against him as he came screaming. Feeling his body tremble and explode pushed Yami the rest of the way, and then the two of them were slumped on the floor, panting, sweating, shaking. And laughing. Laughing, because it was so good, so hot, that they didn't know how they were going to prevent anyone else at the party from catching on.

Most of those who had been standing around talking and enjoying a refreshing beverage were either back on the dance floor or over by the food when Yami and Yugi finally returned, sneaking their way back into the shadowed hall hand-in-hand. They had cleaned up and caught their breath, and since nearly everyone was occupied on the dance floor, they never noticed the length of the couple's absence. Tristan spotted them first, as he came over from filling a plate of food. "Hey, there you guys are," he noted. "Joey wanted to know when we should have cake and do the birthday stuff."

Yugi shrugged. "Anytime Mai is ready, I guess. Maybe we should do it soon, in case people need to leave. What time is it?"

"Got me. I don't have a watch," Tristan replied.

All three of them looked out toward the dance floor, where the guest of honor was currently absorbed in giving her boyfriend her undivided attention. Yugi giggled. "No hurry. I don't want to interrupt Mai right now anyway." He glanced at Yami, and received a surreptitious smile in response. Nope, no one had noticed their disappearance. Not even Marik, who was back out dancing in the general vicinity of Duke and Serenity. Yugi then glanced at Tristan, wondering if he was watching the arrangement of dancers as well, but wasn't sure because Tristan was eagerly feeding his face as usual, and his gaze never wandered from the dance floor even as Serenity left it and ran off in a completely unrelated direction.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Chapter 5

The party was in full swing, meaning it was the perfect time to bring out the cake and encourage Mai to open her birthday presents, since everyone had set them up so nicely on the table. The DJ threw on a pre-mixed CD selection so he could take a few minutes to come over and enjoy some lovely dessert as well, and everyone gathered around the tables and handful of chairs set up in the corner. Serenity had gone to find her jacket and get her camera out of the pocket, and had already snapped a few photos of people dancing before the announcement about cake was made. She was there in front, getting a good shot of Mai pointing a knife threateningly at the camera lens before deciding to find better subjects to record. While they waited for cake to be served, Yugi saw what Serenity was up to and called her over. "Can you take a picture of me and Yami together?" he excitedly asked her. "We don't have any of the two of us."

"Ooo! Of course!" Serenity chirped, raising her camera. "Pose all cute, then…"

Yami smiled silkily and put his arms around Yugi, hugging him into his chest. Yugi snuggled against him and tucked his head under his partner's chin, turning to beam at the camera. The flash in the otherwise dimly-lit room left them both blinking unsteadily for a few minutes afterward. "Thanks," Yugi managed to say while Yami rubbed at his eyes. "I can't believe in all this time, I never thought to get a picture of us."

"I'll send you a copy when I get them printed," Serenity promised. "You guys are so cute. And I saw you dancing out there! You're really good."

Yugi blushed and laughed coyly. "Thanks! I just kind of…cut loose and go with it. I don't really know what I'm doing."

"You could have fooled me," Serenity giggled.

"Cake?" Joey interrupted them, balancing a couple of paper plates.

Standing or sitting around to eat the rich chocolate cake made for a captive audience for a few minutes, so Mai poked through her gifts and got a chance to thank each of her guests for them. Someone, possibly one of her coworkers, had gotten her a gift card to Aya's, though several in the crowd just looked curious when Yugi and Mai shared a good long giggle at it. At the end of the pile of gift bags and cards, Marik stepped forward and fished something out of his pocket, having gone to find his cast-off sweatshirt and retrieve it while everyone gathered for the cake. "Here," he said quietly, handing over a Duel Monsters card. "Happy birthday, Mai."

She took it and studied it, her eyes lighting up with curiosity. "A Rope of Life trap card?"

"You don't already have one, do you?"

"No…" Mai looked up over the card at him. "Wait a minute. Is this the one from your deck?"

"Yeah," Marik nodded. "I don't duel nearly as much as I used to, and I have another card similar to it now that I use more often. I thought maybe you could use it, since you stole it from my graveyard and played it against me so perfectly once."

"Wow." Mai blinked at the card a moment longer. "Thank you, Marik. But you don't have to give me anything out of your own deck…"

"Maybe I want to." Marik smiled calmly at her. "Consider it a peace offering."

Mai smiled back. "Offering accepted. Thank you."

Tristan was sitting off to one side, backwards on a chair with his arms and his empty plate hanging over the back. Joey wandered up to him, about to tease him about the absent look on his face under the assumption he was longing after Serenity, but as he looked around, Joey noticed that his sister wasn't anywhere in his friend's line of sight. Duke was, he was over talking to one of the smartly-dressed women who worked with Mai at the magazine, and Yugi was behind him refilling two glasses. Joey swung an arm and smacked Tristan in the shoulder. "Hey. Don't let your mind wander too far or it won't come back."

"Huh? Oh…" Tristan looked up and smiled. "Sorry. What's up?"

"Nothin' much. How's the party?"

Tristan sat up straighter. "Dude, this is awesome. And I'm sure it's scoring you major points with Mai."

Joey beamed smugly. "Eh, just a few. Thanks for helping out, man. All the weirdness aside." He glanced around the hall again, noticing that some people were heading back out for more dancing now that they had plenty of sugar. "What did you and Serenity do before you got here?"

"Not a whole lot, really," Tristan confessed with a shrug. "I had to pick up something for Mai, so I got Serenity's opinion on it, and we walked around for a little bit. It was pretty boring."

Joey eyed him. "You didn't come on your bike, did you?"

Tristan laughed. "Nah, we took the bus. I knew what you'd say if I let her ride my motorcycle."

"Okay…good." Joey's brown eyes lit up with a smile. "No wonder Mai liked your present – you didn't pick it out."

"Hey, I kind of did," Tristan pouted. "It was one of my options. Really!"

"Yeah, sure."

At that moment Serenity flounced up to her older brother, still toting her camera. "I got the cutest picture of you and Mai when she was cutting the cake," she reported. "Wanna see?"

"Sure." Joey glanced over her shoulder as she flipped the digital camera to review and scrolled back through pictures. "Nice," he complimented. "You're gonna make copies for me to see, right?"

"Any ones you want," his sister promised. "I'll email them all to you, too, when I get home." She noticed Tristan sitting there sort of watching, then, and gestured for him to get up. "I don't have any pictures of Tristan yet," she pointed out. "I tried to get one of you dancing but it was too dark."

Tristan's eyes widened with a start. "Uh, that's okay," he stammered. "No one needs to see photographic evidence of that."

"Come on! Both of you pose together. Old friends!" she encouraged, waving for Joey to get into the picture. He groaned, but gladly did so, hooking an arm around Tristan's neck and slouching onto his shoulder. Tristan dropped a hand heavily onto Joey's blond head, and both grinned like idiots as Serenity snapped the photo. She giggled happily at them. "Great! I want to get lots of pictures of Mai's friends for her." She stuck the camera in a pocket and smiled at Tristan. "Are you going to give dancing another try? I promise not to take pictures."

Tristan gave her a faint smile in return. "I don't know. Maybe. I'll see."

"Aw, come on." Serenity clasped her hands behind her back and turned coyly away. "I'm going to go dance some more. It's a lot of fun…" She left them, then, bouncing brightly over to see if Yugi was going to go dance as well.

Joey glanced aside at his friend. "You didn't have to turn her down just because you're standing next to me," he said in a low tone. "If you want to hang out with her, go ahead. I won't get mad."

Tristan looked at him and grinned sheepishly. "What? I was being honest," he said.

"Maybe later," Duke said in reply when Serenity asked him also if he was interested in going back out to dance. He had noticed Yugi pass by him and cornered him to talk for a second, making sure Yami wasn't put off by his flirting on the dance floor earlier, only to be interrupted again by Serenity.

"Yami and I will be out in a second," Yugi promised. "After I finish my soda." He turned back to Duke to resume their conversation. "That's too bad. I'm sure Bakura would have liked to get out and have some fun with the rest of us."

"I tried, I really did," Duke insisted. "I just never got an answer. You're sure that's his number?"

"Yeah, I've called him before. Huh." Yugi frowned a little. "He didn't want to do anything with us for his birthday, either. I guess maybe he's too shy to just jump right in like nothing's changed."

"I haven't seen him at all since school was over," Duke mused. "Or Téa, but she has an excuse."

"Oh, but she'll be home for the winter break this year!" Yugi suddenly remembered. Yami prowled up behind him at that moment, slinking an arm around him. Yugi instinctively clasped a hand over his and leaned back into him. "She emailed me, Joey, and Tristan last week with the news. She's not in any holiday productions so she can come home during the break. It'll be great to see her," he added, glancing over his shoulder to Yami. "She's been away for a year and a half. It's like forever."

"That's cool."

Yugi nodded as he sipped at his drink, but then the DJ segued into a song that made his eyes pop open wide – one of his favorites. He set his cup down and turned to Yami right away. "Let's go! It's our song!"

"'Our' song?" Yami snorted, though he had no protest to being dragged back out on the dance floor. Only moments before, he had rubbed his arm and felt a twinge, noticing to his mortification that Yugi's fingerprints had been bruised into his skin from their secret encounter. Getting away to the darkness of the arena would be a good way to keep anyone else from noticing.

The party lasted for hours longer, and after Duke's store closed, his clerks and managers were allowed to come down and join it, helping prolong the activity. Yugi and Yami danced a little more, but they had worn each other out and after a bit just stood around talking with their friends, keeping everyone company for at least a short time. Eventually, though, Yugi checked the time and realized it was getting a little too late for him and his partner. As the clock neared eleven, they started making their rounds of goodbyes. "Sorry," Yugi said when Serenity especially pouted. "The ritual expires at midnight. Yami and I need to be home by then, I don't want him vanishing in front of any strangers."

"No worries, Yug," Joey assured him. "You gotta do what you gotta do. Thanks for all the help today." He shifted his glance to Yami. "And you, too."

"We were glad to help," Yami assured with a cool smile.

"Anything to make sure Mai felt like the whole world revolved around her," Yugi added with a grin at Mai, who stood beside Joey with a hand in his.

"And I sure did," she said emphatically. "You guys are the best. I've never had a party like this in my whole life." She let go of Joey and pounced on Yugi instead, catching him up and hugging him. He just giggled and hugged back. "Thanks, Yugi. And you too, Yami."

"You're our friend, Mai," Yugi reminded her. "We just wanted to show you that we love you." He glanced to his side as Marik came up to him, having retrieved his sweatshirt for good in preparation for leaving. "And now…I think I need to get Yami home."

"More like he needs to get you home," Marik smirked. "So you can have what little time is left to yourselves."

Mai reached out to him and squeezed his hand. "Thanks again, Marik. I like the card, it'll come in handy."

He smiled shyly and nodded. "I'm glad I got to see you again."

"Me too." Mai nudged Yugi, then. "Go on, get out of here. Don't waste any more of your precious ritual."

Giggling and clasping hands with Yami, Yugi led the way out with Marik and Odeon trailing. The shop upstairs was now closed, but there was a rear entrance for employees that Duke said everyone could use to leave. The night had grown much colder, necessitating the buttoning-up of jackets, but the four young men enjoyed it after being in the hot, steamy arena-turned-dance-hall all afternoon and evening. The tombkeepers did their duty and walked the pharaoh and his partner home, though no one would have suspected they were bodyguards the way Marik and Yugi chattered the whole way about how much fun they had with the old gang. Once they got back to Kame game shop and the side entrance to the house, Marik decided they could depart, seeing how close it was to midnight. "If anyone was going to attack you and take advantage of your vulnerability today, they would have done it already," he reasoned to the pharaoh. "I'm not concerned about the last hour. Less than an hour."

"Yes, I agree," Yami nodded. "Yugi and I will probably just sit up with each other until midnight, now. And then he needs to get some sleep," he added with a pointed look at his partner. Yugi just grinned in embarrassment.

Odeon stepped forward and bowed his head deeply. "It was a great honor to have accompanied you today, my pharaoh," he said solemnly. "Merely to see you embodied like this is beyond all expectations. Despite the foolish mistakes we have made, we are now and ever will be your loyal servants."

Yami raised a hand in caution, as Marik also bowed at his brother's side. "I am grateful that you've changed, and are making up for your past," he said just as seriously. "But I am no longer a pharaoh in the strictest sense. I have no kingdom to return to, no rule to impose on anyone. Your friendship is what I value now."

"And you have that." Marik reached and took one of his hands between his, clasping it warmly. "I don't know when I'll get to see you like this again, so I'll have to be content seeing you in Yugi's eyes like usual. But I'll never forget this day as long as I live."

"Nor will I," Odeon agreed.

"Thank you, my friends." Yami nodded to them and turned away, as Yugi opened the door. "We shall see you again. Be safe."

The two brothers nodded back, and stood there watching until the pharaoh had been swallowed up by the darkness inside and the door closed and locked. Only then could they consider him safe and themselves able to leave. The lovers crept quietly upstairs in the dark and stole into the bedroom without waking Grandpa, closing themselves away and gladly shucking out of sweaty clothing. Yami wrapped himself warmly in his robe to lay down with Yugi, who had thrown on pajamas after swearing he would shower in the morning. They didn't have any time left to do anything active, but at this point they had had enough of physical exertion and just wanted to curl up together, to caress and kiss and talk quietly of their day until Yami's body disappeared at midnight. Yami tucked his young love in and settled down with him in his arms, holding him tightly to his chest as Yugi sighed happily and snuggled down into folds of the robe, his hand finding its own way inside to gently stroke Yami's warm skin beneath. "I had so much fun," he murmured. "And you…I still can't believe what you did."

"You were a willing participant in that," Yami chuckled. "And eager." He bent his head and kissed Yugi lovingly. "Mmm…make that very eager."

Yugi giggled under his breath. "Well…yeah…it was good. Really, really good." He tugged the collar of the bathrobe aside and placed a soft, sensual kiss to Yami's chest. "I didn't know you had it in you."

Yami smiled to himself. "You inspire me to all new heights of creativity, Yugi."

Chuckling, Yugi settled back down and closed his eyes. "I'm just glad nothing bad happened today. As soon as Marik and Odeon were here, following us like bodyguards, I started to get really worried that maybe someone _would_ come and try to take the Puzzle while you were outside it..." His expression sobered, though with his head down on his partner's chest, Yami did not see it. "And who knows what kind of awful effect that would have had?"

"Truthfully, we don't know," Yami reminded him. "Shadi's warning about not setting the Puzzle aside was meant for the first time we did the ritual, when we thought it was our only chance. Now that we perform it routinely…who knows?" He stroked his lover's hair soothingly as they laid together. "Perhaps it isn't that bad. Perhaps the Puzzle is nothing but an inert object when I'm not in it."

"All the same," Yugi sighed, "I don't want to take chances. We should stick with what's familiar…especially if it keeps sapping my energy every time."

Yami gave a soft purr of agreement, but he refrained from saying anything about the way the ritual had been affecting Yugi. Neither of them knew whether Marik would be around in another month to oversee them again, and truthfully, having anyone else there with them felt strange. The pharaoh would have preferred that the unsettling business with the Millennium Items were over before his next embodiment, so he and Yugi could look forward to a perfectly stress-free visit instead. Neither of them had any more to say, and Yugi was rather drowsy anyway, so they spent the rest of their final hour together in blissful silence, snuggled together under the blankets, Yami combing his fingers through Yugi's hair. It was just what they both needed, until midnight passed and Yugi was left alone again.

A couple of days later, Yugi was amused and annoyed to find himself up to his elbows in a string of twinkling lights, which his grandfather insisted should be put up somewhere in the store – the windows, the glass display cabinets, wherever Yugi thought it looked best. As a family the Mutos only marginally embraced Christmas, but as a marketing ploy to sell more games, it was the perfect chance to go crazy. Yugi made his grandpa promise not to actually turn on the lights or start any Christmas-related promotions until December first, still a couple days away, and in exchange agreed to decorate. He wrestled with the lights for a while until he decided they belonged around the frame of the front windows, and tacked them up to be visible to passersby outside. Hoping that would be the extent of the decorating, he retreated to the counter and took up his usual position, having little at the moment to do except man the register and wait for purchases. Sales had picked up a little, but Yugi found himself agreeing with Grandpa Muto that the holiday season would see the biggest increase. At least they had a little extra now, thanks to his endorsement deal with Pegasus for the world tournament. They could breathe a little easier and even finally get the roof fixed, but it didn't mean they could get away with ignoring the upcoming gift-giving holiday. Grandpa had plans to encourage people to come in and spend lots on games, no matter how much it annoyed Yugi to have to participate in pushing gift-related guilt on potential customers.

Kids weren't the only ones who came into Kame game shop in the afternoons, after school had let out. Newcomers of all ages and types wandered in occasionally, and if Yugi wasn't busy with someone, he liked to acknowledge a stranger's entrance and welcome them with at least a smile, if nothing else. He was talking to an older gentleman about which board games were appropriate for children of a certain age when he heard the jingle of the door, and glanced past his customer to see a man enter and go straight to the Duel Monsters display. Once Yugi had finished with the older man and sent him away happy, he looked for the other customer and saw him looking up at the tournament poster stuck above the display. Yugi cringed; _oh no, I hope he's not a crazy fan who'll come over here and go nuts on me for being on the poster_, he thought. Even so, he smiled in a friendly manner as the dark-haired man looked in his direction and had the obvious eye-opening reaction of recognition. "Welcome to Kame game shop," Yugi said as cheerfully as he could. "Is there anything I can help you find?"

"Oh, just looking," the man demurred. "That's you on the poster, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Yugi chuckled, trying not to blush. "I'm going to be competing in the world tournament. We've got a lot of people asking about it, maybe entering."

"This isn't the shop where the regional rounds are going to be held, though, is it?"

"No, that's Duke's, across town." Yugi smiled in relief at the man's even, non-fanatical tone, but as he approached the counter to speak to Yugi, something within him went cold. He recognized it as the pharaoh's spirit, reacting to something only he could sense. It felt rather like the moment at the Tokyo Game Expo more than a month earlier, the reaction was the same. Yugi did his best not to show any falter in his expression, but he glanced past the customer to see if anyone else would darken his door or windows. "You're…a Duel Monsters player or fan?" he asked the stranger.

"Just a fan, I guess," the man replied, glancing down at the individual rare cards on display in the glass case below Yugi's elbows. "I've only just discovered the game, but it looks like a lot of fun. Especially with this tournament I've heard about."

Yugi nodded despite the waves of intense discomfort radiating outward from his soul, where Yami dwelled and was currently twitching with anxiety. He was on edge again, sensing something wrong but unable to pinpoint where it was coming from, or why. Yugi tried not to be impolite, allowing Yami to do the sensing while he kept his eyes on his customer rather than on the door no matter how much both souls feared someone might burst through it at any minute. "Well," he said to the man, "if you want to know anything about the game, you're in the right place. I do happen to know a thing or two about how it's played."

The stranger nodded and smiled back. "Say, that's a pretty neat pendant you have there. I've never seen anything like it."

Yugi placed a hand instinctively on the Puzzle. "This? Oh…well…thanks. It's…kind of special to me."

The man leaned on the counter and inspected it from a distance. "It looks really old," he said casually. "Is it…an heirloom or something?"

"I…suppose you could say that…" Now Yugi began to feel some of the same trepidation as his partner, and both of them focused at the same time on the man in front of him. Perhaps the feeling of wrongness was not coming from an outside enemy…it was inside the shop already.

The stranger seemed not to notice his hesitation, as he became more comfortable with staring at the Puzzle. "It looks Egyptian," he noted. "I'm sorry, I hope it's not a bother that I'm asking – I just really like Egyptian things. Can I see it?" he asked immediately before waiting for Yugi's response to his apology.

"Er…no, I'm sorry," Yugi managed to stammer. "It's sort of…"

Thankfully, he didn't have to come up with an explanation, for at that instant the shop door flung wide open and Marik charged in, looking panicked. The stranger glanced idly back at the noise of the intrusion, but gave a start when Marik shouted, "You! Get away from Yugi!"

Yugi immediately backed away, keeping the counter between himself and the visitor. "Marik!"

"It's him, Yugi!" Marik cried, his expression going from worried to furious. "David Archer!"

The stranger gave an even bigger start and looked wildly around, at Yugi, at the Puzzle, and around the shop for another door. Marik was blocking the only one, save for those that led into the back office or the house upstairs, and Yugi was in the way of those. They stood staring at each other for a tense moment, each waiting for someone else to make a move, and then Marik stepped aggressively into the shop. The stranger whirled and darted towards him, flinging out his hands and shoving Marik back into the wall to clear him out of the way of the exit. Marik's body slammed into a shelf, dazing him briefly, so that by the time he had regained his feet and spun to give chase, the man had already fled up the street and disappeared. Yugi raced to catch his friend and check to see whether he was hurt. "Marik!" he yelped. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Marik grunted, leaping out the door and looking wildly up and down the sidewalk. In a moment his shoulders sagged defeatedly. "Damn. He's gone." He turned quickly back to Yugi, grabbing the door and pulling it properly closed behind him. "Are you all right? What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, I'm fine," Yugi assured, retreating further inside the shop. "He just asked me about the Puzzle…he said it was a neat pendant and wanted to see it."

Marik glared. "It's a good thing I had some warning and came down here."

"Yeah, you couldn't have timed that any better," Yugi said in relief. "What do you mean, warning? And how did he find me…?" Yugi's eyes widened. "Oh no. He's here. He's found us."

Marik took him by the shoulder and guided him even further inside, back around the counter where they had the safety of distance from the door and handy escape nearby. "I've been on the phone all morning with Ishizu," he reported. "Back and forth, I don't know how many times. We've been trying to keep abreast of any leads Interpol had on this guy, though most of it has been rumors over the past couple of weeks. All of a sudden, this morning she found out that he may have gotten into Japan despite all the international bulletins out on him." His glare hardened. "He changed his hair color, for one."

"That's right, the picture you showed me a while ago was of a blond man," Yugi remembered. "That's probably why I didn't recognize him right away. I could tell by the way he spoke that he was American, but…"

"I didn't expect you to recognize him if you saw him," Marik assured. "I couldn't be sure, I didn't want to run down here with just more rumors, but then I had a sense that I should see you anyway. Right before I left, Odeon took another call from overseas – they were certain this time, he was in the country. I ran as fast as I could." He scowled over his shoulder at the doorway. "Looks like I got here just in time."

Yugi slumped against the frame of the door that led upstairs to the house. "What am I going to do?" he worried. "I was hoping this was going to get taken care of, by real authorities with the power to arrest and put away people like him. I didn't expect it to come here. I didn't want it to."

"This is what Odeon and I are here for," Marik said firmly. "We'll watch out for you. I'm sorry, Yugi, but now that Archer has found you and come to your home, one of us is going to have to guard you every day."

"How did he find me?" Yugi demanded, his eyes going dark with anger. "I'm nobody, there's no way smugglers or…or archeologists or anyone in those circles would ever know who I am or where I live. I…" Something occurred to him, then, and both spirits within him grew grave. He pushed away from the door and shoved past Marik, going over to the Duel Monsters display and looking up at the world tournament poster hanging on the wall. Marik came to his side and realized the same thing as Yugi spoke. "That's how. A big, stupid picture of me, wearing the Puzzle, that's gone all over the world. Every game store, every magazine, every internet site promoting the tournament, would have one."

"No," Marik breathed. "This is terrible. No wonder…"

"And if he's caught on to Duel Monsters and tournaments, he'll find out about you and Bakura pretty soon…"

"And I just showed my face, too." Marik clapped a hand to his forehead, wincing. "This can't be happening. This shouldn't have happened! Interpol let him slip through their fingers and now he's here!"

Yugi turned to him, a look of cold fear coming over his face. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Marik faced him and placed a strong hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Yugi. I said I was going to protect you, and I will. Odeon and I will take turns standing guard in case he comes back again. Unfortunately, unless he actually commits some kind of crime here, we can't call the police on him. He may have some outstanding international warrants, but from the information I've been given, he's done nothing in Japan yet." He glanced quickly around the store. "Do you have a security system here?"

"We have an alarm system, yeah, but it's only for the store," Yugi fretted. "It doesn't cover the house. But, I don't want you guys to have to move in here with me just to watch over me all hours of the day…"

Marik shook his head. "I'm not so worried about that. You always keep the Puzzle close to you when you sleep, right? He'd have to break into your house and attack you directly to get it, and nothing in his past record indicates that that's how he operates."

"And Yami can keep guard, too," Yugi put forth. "He doesn't need to sleep like I do, he can stay alert in case of something like that." He rested a hand over his heart, which was still racing a little. "He's on the alert right now. He could sense something wrong, it just came on us all of a sudden. I thought it might have meant someone was outside sneaking up on us, but no…it was right there in front of us."

"The pharaoh sensed him?" Marik repeated with some concern. "When? How soon before he arrived?"

Yugi closed his eyes and sighed sadly. "He was already here," he confessed. "It wasn't until he came up closer to the counter and started talking to me. Yami went super-alert, all edgy and tense like when any kind of dark presence or Millennium Item is near us." He frowned fearfully. "How can he sense this Archer guy if he's just some run-of-the-mill crook? Do you think it means there's more to him than appears?"

"I don't think so." Marik also frowned. "Shadow powers are complex, even more so because Yami doesn't remember his past or how to use his powers. The reaction could be something deeper than even he knows how to interpret or control. I wouldn't jump to conclusions…but all the same, the fact that he _can_ sense the darkness in this man's heart is a huge advantage for us."

A faint look of humor lightened Yugi's expression. "You just called him 'Yami,'" he noted in a soft tone. "I think you're finally relaxing around him."

Marik looked embarrassed and waved it off. "I can't help it when you're constantly calling him that around me," he scoffed. "Anyway…it's okay. This isn't the end of the world." He sobered and fixed Yugi with a firm, confident stare. "We can't sit back and wait for someone else to handle this problem, it's in our hands now. We have to stay on our guard and not let him sneak in here again. He's been alerted to the fact that we know of him, I don't think he'll try the same tactic again, but all the same, we need to be prepared for just about anything."

Yugi turned and wandered away from him, intending to go hide behind the counter for a while. "What do I tell Grandpa?" he worried.

"Does he know anything about this situation?"

"I told him. I had to. I couldn't leave him in the dark when there was a chance I might be in danger." Yugi gave Marik a hurt look. "And now that chance has gone way up, from just a slight maybe to almost certain."

Marik crossed to him and squeezed his shoulder for comfort again. "Tell your grandpa whatever you have to in order to keep him safe," he encouraged. "He can help keep an eye out. I know this isn't the end of it, even if we did scare the guy off today. The worst part is, we have no way of predicting his next move, or who he might have helping him."

"This is awful." Yugi leaned on the counter, resting his elbows on it and hanging his head. "I remember what it was like the last time anyone was hunting my Puzzle. All the fear, the looking over my shoulder, the uncertainty…knowing I was going to be attacked or confronted but never knowing when…"

"I'm sorry," Marik said heavily. "I'm sorry I ever did any of that to you."

Yugi lifted his head and gave his friend a sad smile. "I wasn't exactly talking about you. You weren't the last one to come after the Puzzle. Well, after the pharaoh," he corrected himself.

A look of grave concern and surprise widened Marik's pale blue eyes. "What do you mean? Did someone else come after you, since we last met?"

"I'll tell you about it later," Yugi sighed. "When things don't look so dark. It was pretty awful, I don't want to think about it right now – I have enough on my mind as it is."

Marik stayed with him the rest of the day, after being allowed to use the phone upstairs to call Odeon and brief him on the sudden, disconcerting appearance of their foe in Domino. As long as Marik was already there, he would take up guard duty for that first day, staying with Yugi even after the shop closed and he wanted to stay up and check his email to try and unwind. They agreed that the tombkeeper brothers would come first thing in the morning, when Yugi got up, and stay until he went to bed, alternating days until some kind of break in the case could be had. And if Yugi chose to go out, to see friends or run errands, both brothers would come with him. Yugi consented, figuring he didn't really have a choice in the matter anyway. Yami remained on the alert overnight, doing his best not to let his anxiety cross over the bond between minds and keep Yugi awake. Unfortunately, this meant that he could not meet Yugi inside the Puzzle until the threat was over, for doing so would divert both spirits' attention when it should be on their surroundings. The energy of concentration required Yami to give himself short times of dormancy during Yugi's waking hours, when either Marik or Odeon would be there to stand guard instead. After just a couple of days of this, Yugi was already grumbling. "It's not that you guys are in the way or anything," he complained to Odeon on the third full day of this new routine. "It's just…not normal to have bodyguards lurking around the shop or the house. And even though you're my friends, I find myself second-guessing whether I should call up anyone or go out or even walk down the block to pick up some groceries."

Odeon held his gaze, his serious expression never wavering. "Would you rather we lurked in the shadows behind you, trailing you everywhere like spies?"

Yugi shivered. "No, don't do that, that would creep me out."

"Very well, then." The older man cracked the tiniest smile. "Consider that it could be worse."

"So…when you're not here watching me." Yugi glanced over his shoulder; Odeon was sitting quietly in a corner of the game shop, reading a newspaper, while his young charge worked his usual daily shift. "What are you doing? Are you trying to find this guy before he finds me again?"

Odeon raised the paper in front of his face again, presumably so Yugi wouldn't be able to read his expression. "We are," he admitted quietly. "But we're not taking any undue risks. I know that worries you."

"Yeah," Yugi agreed. "So I'm not going to ask you what you're doing. The less I know, the less I'll worry. But what are you going to do if you find him? Marik said he hasn't done anything, so you can't call the police and send them after him."

A corner of the paper flipped down to reveal one of Odeon's golden eyes, narrowed sternly. "He entered this country under an assumed name with a falsified passport," he reported darkly. "That may be enough."

Yugi stared at him. "How do you know?"

"We have our sources."

A wry smile curved Yugi's lips after a moment. "I suppose I shouldn't expect anything less of you and Marik. After all, you spent a lot of years hunting down rare cards. You're good at this."

A deep chuckle came from behind the newspaper. "Indeed."

The door jingled to admit a customer, or a pack of customers really, as some school kids blustered in and went noisily to the Duel Monsters rack to look at the new card lines and debate how many booster packs they wanted to buy. At least one of them was saying something boastfully about having already gotten the new wireless upgrade for the duel disk, which had just been released to the public that week in time for holiday sales. Yugi grinned to himself; he was going to go out and get one just as soon as he could stop freaking out about Millennium Item theft and concentrate on dueling again. After the kids had selected their card packs, asked Yugi for the millionth time about the tournament, and left, Odeon lowered the paper again and folded it to set it aside. "Speaking of rare cards," he began. "The Egyptian gods. Do you keep them safe?"

"Of course." Yugi nodded towards the back room behind him. "I make Grandpa keep them locked in the store's safe in the back. He wanted to display them, but we had some trouble once so…I don't leave them where anyone can get at them anymore."

"That's good," Odeon acknowledged, "but you should consider a less obvious hiding place for them. At least for the time being."

"Oh?" Yugi blinked at him. "You don't think they're in danger of being stolen too?"

Odeon looked away briefly. "Yugi," he said after a pause, "there are other reasons besides protecting you and the pharaoh that Marik was sent away from Egypt."

Glancing to be sure the door wasn't about to open for more customers, Yugi stepped closer to his bodyguard. "What do you mean? What is it?"

"You recall, when we arrived, Marik spoke of needing to secure all information that could be used to discover the Millennium Items and their secrets," Odeon said heavily. "That includes the scriptures imprinted on his back. Marik himself is part of the information that must be hidden and kept safe." He closed his eyes and shook his head wearily. "He is willing to put himself at risk to protect you, but now that Archer has discovered your whereabouts, he also must be protected. But he refuses to go into hiding. He was dispatched on this mission before Archer could find out that he is the bearer of the scriptures and the pharaoh's history, but now that man is here…"

"And you're right back where you started," Yugi realized. "But a lot of people know I have the god cards, that's hardly a secret. If Archer really wanted them, he would have probably gotten to them first, before the Millennium Items."

"It's likely he still doesn't know of them, or doesn't care," Odeon agreed. "But if he were to see the secrets on Marik's back, he would be able to recognize that they are as highly regarded as the Millennium Items, even if he couldn't interpret the rest about the pharaoh's power. Then, he would make them a target, as well."

Yugi glared a little. "He's not going to get to them," he declared. "He'd have to know that Marik was carrying the pharaoh's secrets on his back, and that's not common knowledge."

Odeon arched one elegant eyebrow. "All of your friends saw it at the end of the Battle City tournament."

Yugi's mouth hung open, his next comment stolen from him by the realization that Odeon was right. "Oh," he said, his heart sinking. "And that means KaibaCorp probably has a recording of it somewhere. Oh, no."

"I am concerned about my brother," Odeon said quietly, an edge to his voice. "I would like to protect him, and send him back to Egypt now that the instigators of the trouble have followed us here. But I know he will not go. He will not abandon the pharaoh."

Yugi turned away, his hand naturally going to the Puzzle to caress its face. "I'm glad he's here," he murmured. "I'd be afraid for him too, but…since I'm the one in danger, I guess it just makes me feel better to know that Marik is so willing to put himself on the line for me. We're in this together…" He glanced back to smile at Odeon. "All of us. All the same," he added more wisely, "I will give the god cards a new hiding place. One no one will suspect."

Odeon nodded his acceptance. "And the Rod, and the Necklace?"

"They're safe. I check on them every day, now," Yugi explained. "I usually move them around every couple of months, pick a different place in the house to hide them. Ever since the Ring disappeared on me..." Speaking of the Ring brought Bakura to mind, as usual. "Oh, no. We need to call Bakura and let him know the guy found us. He should know. He needs to be protected, too…"

"Marik has already taken care of it," Odeon broke in.

"Oh…" Yugi breathed a soft sigh. "That's a relief. Thanks."

Later that evening, while Grandpa worked the late hours in the shop, Yugi retrieved the three Egyptian god cards from the safe in the back office and brought them upstairs with him, where Odeon was sitting patiently on guard. Yugi stood and gazed at them for a minute, having not really touched or seen them in quite some time, and even let Odeon see them before beginning to search for a place to keep them hidden. In his room was too obvious, so he stayed in the living room and looked around. In the course of his search, Yugi stopped by the bookshelf and was distracted by the collection of framed family photos standing on display. He even had one of him, Joey, Tristan, and Téa, from a couple of years ago when they were in school, but it was the older photos that drew his eye. He found himself growing sad and wistful as he picked up the one of his own parents' wedding, more than twenty years ago now, and brushed some of the dust off the glass so he could better see his mother's pretty dress and the smiles on everyone's faces. After gazing at it long enough, he set it back in its place and sighed. _Times like this_, he thought to himself, _I realize how much I do miss them_.

His ever-present partner heard his thoughts, and felt a need to respond. "I don't blame you," he murmured comfortingly. "When everything is so uncertain, nothing soothes quite like the familiarity and warmth of family and friends."

"Oh…Yami…" Yugi mentally said to his partner. "I didn't think of how that might have sounded to you. You don't have that familiarity…"

"I have enough," the pharaoh said kindly, and his presence felt even nearer to Yugi's heart. "I'm not just here to protect you, Yugi. I'm here to take care of you."

Yugi looked down at the three cards in his hand, shifting them with his thumb to be able to see the mighty faces of all three gods. "What should I do with these? Where can I put them that won't be obvious if someone broke in looking for them?"

"Perhaps your family can protect them," Yami suggested.

Yugi looked up again, at the photos arrayed before him, frowning in confusion before the explanation crossed the mental bond and he understood. Rather than the one of his parents he had just picked up, Yugi reached for the one behind it of Grandpa at his own wedding, even further back in the past, and smiled at it. Yugi had never had the pleasure of meeting his grandmother, but she looked very sweet in all the photos of her, particularly this one. Her wedding kimono was nothing short of beautiful. Yugi trailed his fingers along the frame and then turned it over, opening the back of it and laying the three god cards inside. They were not visible from the front at all, the old photo hid them perfectly. "There," he said aloud, but in a whisper. "Grandpa always said he wanted to protect me, and I know how much he loves these cards. He can guard them for me."

"Is everything all right, Yugi?" Odeon asked from across the room.

"Yeah, fine." Yugi set the frame back on the shelf and turned around, giving his companion a smile. "The god cards are hidden, now. You can stop worrying about them and focus on the bigger things."

Odeon smiled back, putting Yugi at ease. He felt a little better, now, but figured things wouldn't be right unless he could have some alone-time now that Yami had brought up families and comfort. Odeon didn't need to sit in the room with him, he could stay in the living room like a good bodyguard and just listen for anything out of the ordinary while Yugi went into his bedroom, laid down, and entered the trance that allowed his mind to cross the dark corridor into the world of the Millennium Puzzle for a little while. At a time like this, he figured, Yami was right – he needed that comfort more than anything. Family? Friends? No, nothing could quiet his heart like a visit and embrace from his soulmate.

The pursuit of known criminal David Archer was nowhere near as easy as TV cop shows made it look. He could have had dozens of forged identities, stolen credit cards, and illicit contacts to help him exist comfortably in Domino City while keeping one step ahead of authorities as well as the pharaoh's guard. Despite their best efforts, Marik and Odeon were unable to trace him after his unexpected appearance at Kame game shop. Aside from his grandfather, Yugi told none of his friends about the urgent change in his situation, not wanting to worry them or put them in the position of being threatened as well. Fortunately, Joey was busy with school, and others were working hard, so over the course of a handful of days he didn't even hear from any of them. Not that it was unusual; Mai's party had been less than a week earlier, so it wasn't like any of them were starved for each other's attention yet. About the only thing Yugi craved was a chance to get out, because the four walls of the game shop felt like they were closing in on him, what with a bodyguard near him every waking moment. He was doing his best to be patient, but at last he could take it no more and begged Marik to take a walk with him one afternoon just so he could get out of the shop and the house. It was chilly but not bitter, so the two of them wrapped up warmly in their coats and headed through town just to be out, not really heading anywhere in particular even though Yugi thought that it might be a good opportunity to look for a Christmas gift for Grandpa.

A pair of young men chattering like friends ought to as they walked attracted no attention, they were able to walk freely around town for a while before deciding the nip in the December air required a stop at a coffee shop to combat. Marik did his best to both keep an eye out for suspicious figures following them and act perfectly normal at the same time, but Yugi assured him that Yami had his senses perked up and could serve as an internal alarm should any trouble sneak up on them. A new indoor shopping center had opened recently in Domino, and on a day like this it was rather busy as people could get their buying and browsing done without having to brave the elements. Yugi and Marik took their coffee drinks and stood on the second level, leaning on a railing and looking down at all the people passing back and forth below them, wrapped up in their own small lives. "All things considered," Marik mused, "I'm kind of glad to be here. In Domino, I mean." He smiled at Yugi beside him. "Being with my family is nice, but I'm more used to places like this, rather than the quiet, boring life I live now in Egypt."

"I know what you mean," Yugi said with a faint chuckle. "As much as I should be happy with the boring times, I'm not. Not that I like always looking over my shoulder and fearing someone is going to lose their mind or their soul, but…I miss the excitement when it's not there."

"Yeah," Marik agreed. "Like now. I really don't like searching for Archer and trying to stop him from doing you any harm, but at least it means I'm here, doing something, being around people and even friends. It's such a paradox."

Yugi looked at him for a long moment, and the way he stood, his cup held between both hands as he leaned on the railing and scanned the crowds below. "And you've got nothing?" he asked, lowering his voice secretively.

Marik sighed and bowed his head. "Not a thing. He's good at what he does, that's why he hasn't been caught by Interpol at all. And I don't have nearly the network of operatives and informants that I used to back in the bad old days."

"I suppose." Yugi looked around quickly, glad to see the man who had been sitting alone on the end of a bench nearby had finally gotten up and left. No one else suspicious lurked anywhere near them. "I'm kind of glad, though," he said. "I'd rather have you the way you are now, rather than the 'old' Marik who commanded Rare Hunters."

Marik smiled even though his eyes never left the people below them. "Thanks, Yugi. I kind of like it myself. The only time it's tough is when I feel powerless, like I do right now because I can't do anything to stop Archer. At those times, I think about what it was like to hold the Millennium Rod and be able to enter the minds of the weak, and control them. Just think what I could do with that power now…" He closed his eyes and sighed. "But I can't. And I won't. It's not meant for me, I understand that now. I may have kept the Rod, but it's not rightfully mine. I was only meant to be its guardian."

Yugi gazed at him in wonder. "You know, I've been thinking about what Bakura said to us. The spirit, I mean – about the Millennium Items not belonging to the pharaoh. Do you think he's right?"

Marik turned his head to meet his companion's gaze. "I don't know," he replied. "The Puzzle certainly belongs to the pharaoh, it's his dwelling place. Moreso, to you. But the rest? I think it's a little more complex." He swirled the cup in his hands around but didn't drink from it. "Just because an Item is meant for someone in particular to hold doesn't mean others can't use it. Ishizu was able to use the Necklace, but so were you. I used the Rod, but it didn't belong to me."

"I think it belongs to Kaiba," Yugi put forth. "Though, he'd never take it, or want to have anything to do with it. He denies that he has anything to do with Egypt and the Millennium Items."

"I know the Rod reacted to something he did," Marik said strongly, focusing more directly on Yugi. "I felt it. I was holding it, but it activated without my consent. It came from Kaiba, I could sense some kind of power that he was able to control. I don't care if he wants to deny it, it's the truth."

"But still, you have power of your own," Yugi noted. "You were able to use it, too. Doesn't that make it your right to have it, also?"

"I'm not sure it works that way," Marik shrugged. "It's all very complex. I assumed, based on what I was taught as a child, that all the Millennium Items belonged ultimately to the pharaoh, but now I'm not so sure. Not after my experiences with them and the people who've used them." He made a disgruntled face. "And if the spirit of the Ring does know more about it, he'll never tell us. Just to spite us."

"Yeah." Inwardly, Yugi and Yami were thinking about the Rod all over again, in slightly different terms, but here in a public place the pharaoh refrained from discussing it in depth. All he could do was prompt Yugi to ask a tentative question on his behalf. "If you did hold the Millennium Rod again," he murmured, "would it help?"

Marik lifted his head with a start and stared at Yugi. "What do you mean? Does the pharaoh want to give it back to me or something?"

"It's not my place to speak for him, at least not on a matter like this," Yugi said timidly. "But just supposing he did let you hold it, for the time being. Would it help you find Archer and stop him?"

"I couldn't say," Marik answered, hushing his voice instinctively. "He doesn't know who holds the Rod right now, I don't want to make myself an easy target if I don't have to."

"But how would he know you would have it?" Yugi wondered. "You didn't meet him in Egypt, Ishizu and Odeon did. He doesn't even know who you are or how you're connected…"

"By now, he must," Marik reasoned. "If he figured out where you lived after seeing your face on some tournament posters, he knows the connection between the Millennium Items and Duel Monsters. And I've been thinking about what Yami told me, about sensing something odd at the game expo." He turned and leaned his back against the railing so he could lower his voice even more and speak directly to Yugi, a dark frown on his face. "What if that dark presence wasn't after the Puzzle, but the Eye? What if what Yami sensed at that time was Archer trying to get close to Pegasus to see if he could get at the Eye?"

Yugi's violet eyes widened. "You think that's what we sensed?"

"Pegasus kept a low profile publicly after losing the Eye," Marik said urgently. "No one could get close to him except employees at his company. But at the game expo, he was out and about, making a rare public appearance. Anyone could brush up against him, and with just one close look would see that he doesn't have the Eye anymore. It doesn't matter that you were there, or that anyone else who plays the game also has Millennium Items – Pegasus has been to Egypt a number of times on archeological digs and searches. It's only natural that Archer would have found that out first."

"But Pegasus lost the Eye so long ago," Yugi breathed incredulously. "That's old news."

"That might be the only thing saving us right now," Marik grumbled. "If he's just figuring out the connection between Duel Monsters and the Items now, then most of the information about them is going to be outdated. These Items aren't a matter of public record, no one knows about them except those to whom they're entrusted. And their friends," he added with a sudden flash of a wry smile.

Yugi smirked. "Well, yeah…"

"But they're outside the scope of most artifacts," Marik went on, speaking in a rush as if trying to get all his thoughts out at once. "They have no paperwork, no money has ever changed hands, there's no record anywhere of transactions. They're simply bestowed by the will of the ones who possess them, and it's only been done in our private lives where the only witnesses might have been a handful of your friends. So he'd have no way of knowing that I gave the Rod and the Ring to you, or that Ishizu gave you the Necklace, or that Bakura got his Ring back somehow. No matter how much research he does, or how many customs officials he bribes."

"But what about the Battle City finals?" Yugi worried, leaning in to speak in a similar hush. "I know I've seen pictures from when it ended, and you gave me the Winged Dragon of Ra. KaibaCorp probably has pictures or video of that whole thing, and you gave me the Rod there."

Marik shook his blond head seriously. "I've checked," he assured his friend. "There's a video clip buried somewhere in the archives on the KaibaCorp website, where it mentions tournaments, but it cuts off before I handed over the Rod and the Ring. It runs out at some random point while I was showing you my little secret." A bit of a sneaky smile gleamed in his blue eyes. "So there's no record of me giving you any Millennium Items. As far as Archer knows, I still have them." He straightened up, leaning an elbow on the railing behind him. "There are other pictures from Battle City floating around, which show Ishizu, myself, you, and Bakura all holding Millennium Items, but only those who were there can say what happened to those Items after the tournament."

Yugi stared hard at the floor, glad to hear this news, but something about it nagged at him considering what Odeon had told him yesterday. "But…the video does show the images on your back?" he asked quietly.

"Briefly…" Marik's brow furrowed. "What's the matter?"

"If he sees that…he might guess that you're still important to the pharaoh," Yugi answered, turning his head toward Marik but not lifting his gaze. "You'd be in danger."

Marik frowned. "Has Odeon been talking to you? It doesn't matter," he said firmly. "I'm here to protect you, and no half-formed concern that this guy could somehow interpret the scriptures and go after the god cards next is going to stop me. You can rest easy, Yugi. I'm not going to abandon you out of fear for my own safety."

"All right," Yugi said, but inside, he could not rest easy at all. He wasn't afraid of being abandoned, all he wanted was for no one else to suffer on his behalf. He went back to leaning over the railing, lifting his drink to his lips only to find that the mocha had gone cold and was no longer appetizing. Marik leaned next to him, having surveyed the immediate area with a quick glance and feeling comfortable looking at the lower level instead. Yugi heaved a long sigh. "At least we have one thing that Archer doesn't know, and can't get at," he murmured. "For all his being one step ahead of us all this time, we've got him there."

"And that's on one of the most important subjects, the one he most needs to know," Marik acknowledged. "You keep the other Items safe, right?"

"Yeah. They're not locked up or anything, but I keep them hidden someplace unexpected. And I move them around." Yugi scowled to himself. "After I noticed the Ring was missing, I started changing the places where I hide the other two. I don't want that to happen again."

"That's good," Marik nodded. "Keep doing that. It's my hope that your enemy doesn't know you possess them, and the longer we can keep him frustrated and guessing, the better it will be for us. He might make a mistake, and then we can call in the authorities and stop him once and for all."

Yugi nodded silently, but it didn't make him feel any better. Not even Yami's soothing presence could help, for the pharaoh was himself on lookout and could spare only half his attention to try and quiet Yugi's soul. _I don't know what it's going to take to stop him_, Yugi mused, _but I can't take any more of this waiting. I want him to get it over with_. He glared down at the anonymous mass of people crossing back and forth below their hangout. _Come on, Archer, whoever you are. Come and get me. I dare you!_


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Chapter 6

The rest of the world went on as though nothing clandestine or incredible was going on in Yugi's life. Kame game shop became like every other store in the city, touting itself as the place to go for holiday gift-buying, and it seemed to be working. The annual upsurge in confused parents carrying clues written on scraps of paper like "dueling monsters" and "card shop" had already begun. Yet, throwing himself into work did not keep Yugi from worrying about the rest, particularly when he found himself needing to kick himself for making a wish that fate had been all to eager to fulfill. Only one day after ranting about it privately, his enemy appeared to take him up on his dare. Yugi worked the morning shift every day that week, since having a bodyguard drop in on him the moment he woke up meant that he couldn't really sleep in anyway, so he was off by the afternoon. It would have been nice to have something to do, then, but with Odeon eyeballing him from the corner, Yugi felt a sense of frustration that he didn't know how to deal with. He didn't get very far, though. Before he could even step out from behind the counter to go upstairs and try to find something to do, the shop door opened to admit a figure that had Odeon leaping from his seat immediately. David Archer did not sneak, rush, or otherwise attack; in fact, he looked fairly confident in himself as he strode straight for Yugi. Rather than scruffy casual clothes, he was dressed to be sleek and affluent in an expensive leather coat. "Excuse me, Yugi Muto," he said breezily, in his obvious American accent. "I'd like to speak with you."

Odeon stepped to Yugi's side and edged in front of him, making Archer look up at him and stare. "Whatever you want with him, you'll have to get through me, first," he threatened, crossing his hands in front of him in a way that thrust out his shoulders and made him look much bigger.

"You," Archer growled. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Protecting me from you," Yugi answered for him, stepping to the side in order to be seen around Odeon's hulking frame. He wore a rather disconcerted frown, despite the fear that had leaped suddenly into his throat and nearly choked him. "What do you want?"

Eyeing Odeon suspiciously, Archer turned his focus to the shorter young man. "I want to discuss your pendant. Do you realize you're holding a very rare and valuable Egyptian artifact, there?"

Yugi's frown deepened to a glare. "I know more about this artifact than you do," he snapped insolently. "It's not a pendant, it's a Puzzle. And it belongs to me, rightfully."

The American gave a start of surprise. "You mean that's the Millennium _Puzzle_? The seventh artifact that was supposed to have rested in the Tomb of the Nameless Pharaoh? How the hell is it in the hands of a little goth kid in Japan?"

Yugi bristled at the insult. "You don't know anything about the Millennium Items," he retorted. "The Puzzle was destined to be given to the one who could solve it, and that person is me. I solved it and released the pharaoh, so it belongs to me now. It's bonded to me, it was my destiny. I don't know anything about where it was found or where you think it's supposed to be, it belongs right here." He curled a hand protectively around it, drawing strength from the spirit inside it.

"Look, kid," Archer said snidely, "I don't care what fairy tales about destiny you want to believe. The truth is, you're holding one of seven ancient artifacts more rare than anything in the whole history of the world, and I want them."

"As we suspected," Odeon said darkly.

Archer sniffed at him. "Your sister was onto me right away, wasn't she? It doesn't matter. For all your stonewalling, we're finally on the right track of the Items. I've got a pretty good lead on who's keeping at least three of them, including this one right here." He gestured idly to the Puzzle. "You can't hide them from me anymore. Now that I see you here with this kid, I know you and Ishizu know where all these things are."

Odeon glared seriously. "Not all of them."

Archer reached into his leather coat and pulled out a large, flat envelope, from which he slid what looked like glossy prints of photos. He shuffled through them and pulled one out, turning it so Odeon and Yugi could see. "I wouldn't have left Egypt so quickly if I had known she had one."

It was a photo of Ishizu taken during the Battle City finals aboard Kaiba's skyship, when she faced him. It looked like a publicity still that KaibaCorp might have had archived somewhere, there was a "KC" watermark in the corner. Odeon's eyes blazed with fury, while Yugi recoiled a little. "Ishizu is no longer in possession of the Millennium Necklace," Odeon stated bluntly. "That much I feel free to tell you."

Archer raised an eyebrow but kept looking through the pictures. Yugi could tell even at this distance that the rest were likely also Battle City publicity photos. "This guy was here the other day," the smuggler noted, lifting one photo enough to hint that it was one of Marik. "At least I think it was him, he looked a bit different. And this kid…" He turned out the last photo to show Bakura standing unsteadily at one end of a dueling platform, the Millennium Ring dangling around his neck. "He lives here too, doesn't he?"

Yugi stared, though it was hard for him to pretend he didn't know. "I…I couldn't say…"

"Ryo Bakura, aged nineteen, enrolled at Domino University?" Archer smirked when he got his confirmation simply from the aghast look in Yugi's eyes. "They're all collecting here, one by one, aren't they?" he prompted. "He's got one, you've got one, your blond friend has one…"

Yugi shrank back a little, all too willing to hide behind Odeon's arm as he thrust it out to block Yugi from Archer's view. "Do you have any idea how old those pictures are?" Odeon answered for him. "The Battle City tournament was years ago."

Yugi clutched at his arm, hoping the squeeze would be enough to silence him before he said too much. "What do you want with the Millennium Items?" he immediately asked of their visitor.

Archer tucked the photos away back in the envelope. "I'm collecting them," he said simply. "And that's why I'm here today. I've come to ask you for your item – the Puzzle."

"Never!" Yugi responded, glaring all over again. "The Puzzle belongs to me, I'm the pharaoh's vessel. No one can take it from me except by winning it in a duel."

The American gave him a scornful look. "A duel? Oh…you mean that stupid card game?"

Yugi's anger was quickly overtaking his fear, making him push forward past Odeon. "It's not a stupid card game," he snapped, "it has deep ties to ancient Egypt and the Millennium Items that you don't seem to understand at all. No one can just take the Puzzle, it has to be won. And I won't let that happen."

"I wouldn't just take the Puzzle," Archer countered, still sounding too smug and cool for his own good. "Not in broad daylight. I've been authorized to offer you a substantial amount of money for it."

"No," Yugi said incredulously, "a thousand times no. Can't you get that through your thick head? I don't care how much money…"

"Five million U.S. dollars."

The sum caught Yugi for only the briefest second. "I don't care," he repeated. "There isn't enough money in the whole world to convince me to give up my Puzzle and my connection to the pharaoh. Leave here before we call the police – and don't try to come after it any other way. Unless you can duel me and win, you're just wasting your time."

"Yugi?" The hesitant voice of Grandpa Muto let them know that he had come into the shop and was listening to everything.

Yugi spoke over his shoulder without taking his eyes off the American. "Grandpa, call the police," he said forcefully. "This is the guy who's trying to take the Millennium Items. I hear he's in this country illegally and is wanted internationally."

Archer did not react to that information either way. "You should know that money is no object," he said patiently. "My employer is willing to give up just about anything to collect these artifacts. You can name your price."

There was only one thing left for Yugi to do. With a flash of the Puzzle's Eye his partner stepped forth, just as angry but in his own cold, deadly way. He faced Archer with fists clenched, head down, eyes shadowed and glittering dangerously. "You do not understand what you are asking," he warned. "This isn't some golden plaything to be traded on the market, black or otherwise. This Puzzle contains a dark magic the likes of which the world has not seen in thousands of years, a magic you could not possibly hope to contain or wield. The right to bear it belongs to me alone, and unless you are somehow capable of facing the might of the Egyptian gods and defeating them, you will never take it from me. Leave, before I do something I'm likely to regret later."

Archer frowned at him. "Kid, there's no such thing as ancient gods," he scoffed, though in a serious tone. He didn't like the change that had come over Yugi, subtle but definite. "Somebody's been filling your head with legends to make you think you have a right to that artifact, but the real story is, it was stolen from a tomb in Egypt and is now fair game for anyone with the right price."

"It was _not_ stolen," Solomon Muto said sharply, all of a sudden. Everyone glanced his way. "I was allowed to have the box that contained the pieces of the Puzzle, and knew that only the one who could solve it was the destined keeper of it. That happened to be my grandson rather than me."

"Leave, now," Odeon reiterated, taking an aggressive step forward. From where he stood beside him, Yami could hear the whisper of a blade being drawn from a sheath, and he glanced to see Odeon holding a dagger. "It is my duty to protect the pharaoh," he warned Archer, "and I will do so with all my might."

"Odeon, no." Yami placed a hand commandingly on the tombkeeper's arm. "Not here. We will let the police handle him."

"I've made the call," Grandpa added from behind them.

Archer backed away from them slowly. "You people are making a huge mistake," he growled. "You should take the money and run. They're just artifacts, they're not worth anything to plain civilians like you. Kids shouldn't play with things they don't understand."

"I ought to give you the same advice," Yami said angrily. "None of those who hold a Millennium Item will sell them to you for any price short of blood. You'll get the same answer anywhere you go. End this pursuit and leave us alone, and you may escape with your mind and soul intact."

The man laughed. "You don't scare me, little man." He shot a quick look toward Grandpa, aware that a phone call had indeed been made, and shouldered his way quickly out the door. "Fine! You want to play rough, we'll play rough!" he called back as he hurried away.

Odeon sprang from his place, sheathing the dagger but racing to follow Archer. He paused briefly at the door. "Call Marik!" he demanded of Yugi. "He'll protect you. I'm going after Archer!"

He was gone before anyone could protest. With Yami still in primary control, they called Marik and told him briefly of what had just happened, including where Odeon had gone, so within minutes Marik was at the shop, scouting around the block in case his brother was on his way back already before sequestering himself upstairs with Yugi. "It's all right, Odeon can more than take care of himself," he assured as they sat down together, trying not to be on edge. "He and I have been through much worse. If he can at least find out where Archer is staying, or who he's working for, it'll be worth it."

Yami refused to let Yugi go through this alone, keeping their minds bonded into one so the pharaoh could lend Yugi his strength and wisdom. "I am concerned that this is a dangerous move, but it's a necessary one," he conceded, clasping his hands in his lap as he sat across from Marik. "I don't think the police are going to do anything."

"Unless you have laws here about stalking, no, there's nothing they can do right now," Marik agreed. He studied Yugi briefly, understanding that he was talking to both spirits now, having become able to discern the pharaoh's presence when he saw it. "My pharaoh," he said more gently, "we'll handle this. Thanks to this one, bold move from Archer, we know what he wants and what he's willing to do to get it."

Yami Yugi nodded slowly. "Your suspicions were entirely correct. Including the thought that he might be working for someone else. Someone with the money to bankroll the purchase of seven rare artifacts."

"I was going to say, this guy certainly doesn't have five million dollars by himself." Marik's eyes narrowed. "And you're sure he said dollars, not yen or pounds or euros?"

"U.S. dollars, yes."

"That means his buyer is also American." Marik got up to pace. "If we can just get a hint on where he's staying, we'd be able to trace his connections back to America and find out who he might be talking to. Odeon had better bring us something we can use, or this might turn ugly really fast."

"Marik." Yugi spoke quietly, in the pharaoh's solemn tone. Marik turned to look at him, eyes lifted in question. Yugi remained sitting with his hands in his lap and his eyes downcast. "My mere existence is placing not only Yugi but his grandfather in danger," he intoned. "Archer may think I have only one, but if he were to find the other two here as well, there's no telling what might happen. It may be prudent of us to split them up to make it harder for anyone to get at them."

Marik stared at him. "I don't know about that," he said in a low, warning tone. "I can't think of a hiding place any better than with you."

Yami Yugi lifted his head and then pushed himself to his feet, crossing to where Marik stood. "I have great faith and trust in you," he murmured. "I am willing to allow you to possess the Millennium Rod again, for a brief time, solely to protect it."

Marik shook his head quickly. "No, pharaoh, no," he insisted. "I'm honored that you trust me, but…I wouldn't be any safer than you as a keeper. You said Archer was carrying photos of Battle City and knows it was me who held the Rod before. I don't have it now, so he can't take it from me."

"But he can still do you great harm just by thinking you have it," Yugi argued. "He will target you regardless of whether it's in your possession. Having it, you may be able to protect yourself with it. You have the strength and power to use it if need be."

Marik held his gaze for a moment, thinking, and then heaved a long sigh. "The offer is very tempting," he admitted. "But I don't think you want me carrying the Millennium Rod. Who knows what other darkness lurks in my heart, that could be awakened all over again just by having it in my hands?" He shook his head more slowly, gravely, this time. "I know what you want, and I appreciate that you think I could use it. But for everyone's sake, I must refuse. I can protect myself without shadow powers."

Yugi's brow twitched with a frown. "I was thinking more of the knife inside the Rod's handle. But I hadn't considered that. You don't think you should be allowed to touch the power of the Rod?"

"I would rather be safe than sorry. Besides, I already have a knife." Marik smirked very slightly. "If you must split up the items, I'll take the Necklace. It's easy to hide, and Archer won't expect me to have it."

"But he knows Odeon's connection to Ishizu," Yugi argued. "If he realizes yours to Odeon, or to her, you might be a suspect. Moreso than I am."

Marik bowed his head slightly. "It's your call. You're the pharaoh."

Yami Yugi closed his eyes to give it some thought. "Then, perhaps you're right," he said after a bit. "I am the best keeper for as many Items as I have. As long as there is no suspicion that anyone gave me anything besides the Puzzle, no one will think to look here. After all, I wear the Puzzle in plain sight."

Marik eyed him. "Where do you keep the other two, anyway?"

Yugi laughed faintly. "At the moment? In a box in the bottom of my closet, under some clothes I've outgrown."

"Such reverence," Marik teased. "I'm sure my ancestors would be mortified to know they're being protected with such honor."

Yugi just gave him an unamused look. "The time for honor will come later."

"I know." Marik looked away, sighing. "Where is Odeon, already? I hope he's not in trouble."

Odeon returned half an hour later, not at all in trouble but unfortunately also without his prey. He had tracked Archer halfway across the city before the smuggler was finally able to lose him, and could provide no valuable information on where he might be holed up. Both he and Marik stayed with Yugi the rest of the day, then, wanting to make sure that Archer's threat about playing rough wasn't to be carried out that very night. Even after Yugi sent them away so he could go to bed, Odeon remained on watch on the opposite street corner for a few more hours of his own choice. After all, tomorrow was Marik's turn on watch, and he needed his sleep. At this point, it was too much to hope that regular old authorities would be enough to stop a regular old criminal, so Odeon waited, watched, and thought long after the light in the upstairs skylight went out.

The shop and the house remained gripped in an unwelcome tension throughout the day, as Yugi and Marik simply waited around in silence in between customers, making the slow part of the day just before lunchtime sheer torture. Despite their alertness there was no sign of Archer again, no more visits or even calls hinting after the Millennium Items. The sky outside was the perfect shade of gray to match Yugi's mood as he went about his routine and holed up inside after work, too nervous and upset to do anything except stare out the window or pace the living room while Marik kept watch. About the only thing the two of them were able to do to feel a sense of accomplishment was find a new, unique hiding place for the Millennium Rod and the Necklace, so they weren't in Yugi's room or in the game shop. Marik had a bit of a chuckle about them being safe at the back of the linen closet with the fluffy towels, but even he agreed that a man like Archer wouldn't even think of looking there for Millennium Items. Yugi did his best to put on a brave face as long as Marik was around, but it was too much even for him to bear, so he decided to go to bed early and dismissed his bodyguard with a weary farewell. He hadn't been sleeping well, it was hard for his mind to shut off when there was so much to worry about, so as much as he craved the sleep, he ended up still lying awake for hours in his bed, listening to the faint sounds of his grandfather puttering about the house and the occasional soft hum of the heat turning on.

Once back home, Marik slouched on the floor with his back against a pillow, rubbing his temples, a half-cooled mug of tea sitting between his legs. Odeon stood by the window, gazing out into the night. "I couldn't sit there any longer," Marik explained to his half-brother. "Yugi went to bed, what was I supposed to do? He was upset anyway. I don't blame him – we're all on edge, now."

"All the same, we should be watching out for him," Odeon murmured. "It's early in the evening."

"Something tells me Archer doesn't exactly go to bed at ten or anything," Marik snorted. "If he was going to attack Yugi, it wouldn't be now when people are still out on the streets living their normal lives."

Odeon heaved a long sigh, his breath fogging the window. "Still, I am unsettled. He showed us his hand yesterday and threatened us, but a full day has gone by with no further word. I don't like it."

"Neither do I, but we're on the defensive," Marik reminded him, picking up his tea. "It's our position to wait and react. He has to make the move, we can't." He sat back against the pillow with a sigh and looked deeply into his mug. "I'm with you. I can't relax. I'm so tired, though – we ought to get some sleep as well. Yugi needs us both fresh and ready."

Domino City was usually fairly quiet and untroubled, with a low crime rate for a city that size and safe streets to walk on at night except in some areas. Kame game shop was not located in one of those areas, that neighborhood was traditionally friendly and hadn't seen an incident of anything more evil than vandalism in years – except for that trouble which seemed to follow the Millennium Puzzle. Yet, shadowy figures were still able to move through the city unnoticed, unimpeded, and set up their strikes to be swift and deadly now that their targets had been located. Three attacks in three separate locations, all planned for the same night, with the hopes of netting at least three Millennium Items and possibly information on the rest. One team set out for a small, low-rent flat near the university as a second simultaneously made their way to the unsecured temporary housing above a storefront. A pair of burly-chested men in dark clothing slipped knit masks over their faces before breaking a window that would let them drop into the hallway of the apartment building, from which it was only a matter of checking their instructions to find the correct flat and pick the lock on the door.

Though Ryo Bakura was dead asleep on the futon in his room after a long day of study, the dark spirit housed deep within him was on the alert as he had been every night since receiving the pharaoh's warning. He didn't trust his vessel to be able to take care of himself should anyone attempt to steal the Ring, so it was the second spirit's personal duty to see to it that his Ring did not leave Bakura. He heard the stealthy click of the lock being pried open, at which his eyes snapped wide open. Ryo's gentle mind went black as Bakura rose from his bed and reached for the Millennium Ring hanging from a nail in the wall.

The assailants were so busy trying to stay quiet that they didn't hear the faint jingle in the back bedroom. Closing the door behind them so as to muffle any shouts or struggle from being heard by other residents, they crept through the main room and slunk up beside the door to the bedroom, pausing to look before entering. There was a sudden burst of brilliant golden light, at which the man on the left fell bodily backwards away from the door. The other man recoiled in surprise, reaching for the combat knife strapped to his leg as a lithe shadow materialized in the darkness before him. The Ring glowed again, though merely to highlight its bearer as he moved through the room, dark eyes glaring with wicked glee. "Is this all?" he scoffed at the attackers, as the first man sat up and shook his head to stop it from ringing. "I thought I was going to be given a challenge. You are nothing to me. You call yourselves thieves, do you?" Bakura laughed heartily. "You're not worthy of being called that. Not when you're standing before the King of Thieves."

The attackers looked at each other, as if to ask if this guy was for real, and both went for their weapons. Bakura's glare hardened, and he flung out a hand towards them. The Ring brightened as his shadow power surged into him, illuminating him fully now, a leering apparition in a young man's pajamas. "I don't think so," he responded to their threat of harm. "This Ring belongs to me, and unlike some people I know, I'm not the type to hesitate when it comes to protecting it. Nobody touches it but me."

Yugi had finally fallen asleep, though a restless and unsettled sleep, when the phone startled him out of it. He leaped out of bed and lunged to snatch up the phone on his desk before the sound could wake his grandfather, and only then did he consider needing to be alert enough to answer. "Hello?" he wondered, bewildered at who might be calling at this time of night.

The voice on the other end was breathing heavily, but managed to groan, "Yugi…are you all right…?"

"Odeon?" Yugi cried, barely recognizing the voice. "Is that you? What's wrong?"

"Are you all right?" Odeon repeated more forcefully. "Has anything happened, there?"

Yugi looked around his room. "Um…no…I'm fine. I was just asleep. What…" His voice hushed fearfully. "What's going on? You sound hurt…"

Odeon took a breath to settle himself. "Can you come down here? Right away?" His voice was raw, with a note of anger beneath the strain. "They attacked us. Marik is gone."

Coldness shot through Yugi's heart. "Marik?" he breathed. "Gone?"

"They took him." Odeon paused for breath. "You must get out of the house before they come after you."

"Okay, hold on, I'll be right there," Yugi said in panic, already darting around his room to find clothing. "And call the police. This isn't a little thing anymore, they need to know!"

He hung up and snatched for the clothes he had cast off a few hours before, hastily changing and grabbing his keys on his way down to the door, the Puzzle swinging wildly around his neck. Pausing only to look around just in case someone was waiting to pounce on him, Yugi ran up the street as fast as he could, not even bothering to button his coat even though it was quite cold by now. His breath left a trail of steam in the air behind him as he ran, crossing the empty streets and pounding up the sidewalk to the little second-floor flat his guardians were keeping. The police had not yet arrived by the time he got there, but lights were on upstairs and the outer door to the stairwell was hanging loose off its hinges. Yugi raced up the stairs and found the apartment door also wide open, the meager possessions and furnishings inside tossed about as if by a struggle. Odeon sat hunched over in the middle of the main room with the phone next to him. He heard Yugi's boots on the floor outside and looked up as he stepped into the doorway. Yugi started at the sight of blood running from the corner of the Egyptian's mouth. "Odeon!" he yelped.

"Yugi," Odeon groaned. "You're all right."

He started to get up, but winced and fell back heavily. Yugi came to his side immediately, steadying him with hands on his broad shoulders. "Easy, there," he said. "What happened? Who was it? Was it Archer?"

"No," Odeon replied with a shake of his head. "He was not here. But I have no doubt they were sent by him. There were two of them…all in black, dressed for stealth." He closed his eyes. "They overpowered us before we could even get out of bed, and dragged us out here while they turned the place upside down looking for Millennium Items. They demanded to know where the Rod was, but didn't believe Marik when he said he didn't have it." He grimaced painfully at the next part, his voice beginning to shake. "They beat him and threw him face down on the floor, and that was when they saw the scriptures on his back. They knew it meant something, so they made him grab a shirt and took him with them. I tried to stop them, I fought with all my might, but…"

Yugi gripped him by the shoulders, giving him a sympathetic look. "How badly are you hurt?" he asked timidly. "They really smacked you around, didn't they?"

At that moment, Odeon raised the hand that had been wrapped around his midsection. His palm and forearm were smeared with blood. Yugi shrank back in horror to see the knife slash across his abdomen through the bloody rip in his shirt. "They made sure I was incapacitated," Odeon answered in a ragged voice. "I couldn't do anything to stop them from taking Marik."

"It's okay," Yugi tried to assure him, lifting his head slightly at the sound of distant sirens coming nearer. "First thing's first, we have to get you some help. Then we'll worry about Marik. I'm okay, they haven't come for me yet." His wide eyes saddened. "I'm sorry you two got dragged into this, Odeon. You're here to protect me, and you got hurt for it."

The sirens screeched to a halt right outside, and Yugi stepped aside as medical personnel and a couple of police officers blustered inside. The medics saw to Odeon's wound as much as they could, since he refused to be taken to a hospital and said he would make do with whatever assistance they could offer. It was more important that he be there to inform the cops of the kidnapping, providing as much information about his missing brother and the strange incident as he could. Yugi stood in a corner listening, but when the questioning came around to why men in dark clothing had attacked the foreigners, he felt a need to step up and tell them everything – at least, as much as didn't sound too weird. "They were looking for this," he said plainly, holding up the Millennium Puzzle. "And some other Egyptian artifacts just like it. We wouldn't sell them to this guy when he came in and asked the other day, so now they're trying to take them by force." He looked down at his guardian, who was lying on the floor while the medics wrapped him up. "They thought one of them might have been here, but it's not. I have it."

The officer taking down all the information paused at that, giving him a strange, questioning look. "This is a fight over Egyptian artifacts?" he repeated with some incredulity.

"Yeah," Yugi sighed. "I wish it were more deep than that, but it's not. They offered me five million American dollars for mine."

The officer stared even more. "And you didn't take it?"

Yugi shook his head firmly. "It's not about money. This means a great deal to me. I was given it by…well, by a pharaoh, so I don't even have a right to sell it. The Ishtars are my friends, they came here to protect me because they were afraid something like this would happen."

"I see." The officer looked over his notepad at everything they had told him. "Well, the important thing right now is to find your missing friend. He may need medical attention as well."

Odeon sat up now that he was free to do so. "There is a detective, at the main police station, whom we have spoken to about this criminal…"

"Yes, this international smuggler you spoke of…" The cop paged back to where he had written it down. "An American named Archer?"

"Yes." Odeon glared urgently. "The detectives know we have been looking for him, and there are international warrants out from Interpol."

The officer blinked in surprise at that. "Really? This is starting to sound a little too big for me. Let me call down to the main station, and see if someone there can shed some light on it. Meanwhile," he added to his partner, who had been inspecting the trashed apartment, "radio in this description in of the missing young man. He needs to be found immediately. That can't wait."

Yugi shrank back into his corner while the second officer took the notes and went down to the squad car outside. Then, he felt Yami within him stir, and heard a whisper in his mind before he could even ask what had roused him. "Someone is near," he said warningly. "Someone we know – I sense him plainly. Yugi, go outside."

"Uh…okay." Yugi went and knelt beside Odeon for a brief moment, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and leaning close to him. "Yami senses something," he whispered in the guardian's ear. "I'm going to go outside and check it out."

Odeon reached up and clasped his hand quickly, as if to ask him not to go, but after a moment of holding Yugi's gaze and searching his eyes, he let go and allowed him to leave. Assuring everyone more openly that he would be right back, Yugi straightened up and left, hopping down the stairs and walking away from the police cars, looking both ways. The street was rather dark, completely deserted, except for the emergency lights strobing up and down the sides of adjacent buildings. The warmth of Yami's presence in Yugi's soul became a burning flame. "Yugi," he said urgently, "please, let me take over. This is very dangerous."

"Be my guest," Yugi breathed, closing his eyes to savor the ease with which Yami was able to bond with him, his spirit gaining control of his vessel but allowing Yugi to partner with him still. He looked around once more, but he could clearly sense the dark presence so tangibly near now, and walked briskly up the block to meet it.

A shadowy figure in a blue navy peacoat stepped out of the alley as Yami came closer. "So," he purred, "this is where my Ring led me. You're out and about rather late, aren't you?"

Yami heard the singular note of the familiar voice that told plainly of which spirit he was speaking to. "I sensed it was you," he muttered darkly. "I could feel you from a block away."

"Ooo, could you now?" Bakura chuckled to himself as he came out to the sidewalk, faint light from the streetlamps and aid cars glittering in his dark eyes. "It's rather sensual, isn't it? Feeling my presence that way?"

"I don't consider dark and cold very sensual," Yami growled. "What are you doing here? Searching for me?"

"As a matter of fact," Bakura replied, the smirk melting off his face. "I had some visitors earlier this evening, and was a bit curious as to whether you did, also. It looks like I was right."

"They didn't come for me," Yami demurred, "they hit Marik and Odeon. Marik has been kidnapped."

A flicker of surprise raised Bakura's eyebrows for a brief second. "Interesting. Yet, from the panicked phone calls I've been hearing in the past day or so, one would think they would have hit you, first." He chuckled sardonically. "Perhaps they aren't as stupid as I first thought. They came to take out your bodyguards to leave a clear path to you."

Yami stared in alarm. "You're right," he realized. "They attacked here first so that no one would come when I called for help." His eyes narrowed, then. "But they also came after you?"

"I told you," Bakura said, some of the evil glee returning to his voice. "Anyone coming after the Ring would get a nasty surprise. I may be chained to a soft wimp of a boy, but the clever disguise serves me all too well. They thought I would be an easy target to pluck the Ring from. Well, they learned that lesson the hard way."

Yami eyed him distastefully. "Just what did you do to the people who attacked you?"

"I didn't kill them, if that's what you're so worried about," Bakura flippantly replied. "I just obliterated their minds. Their souls are sealed away somewhere where I can have fun with them later. There isn't time right now to play."

The pharaoh's spirit gave him a disgusted frown, but there were more pressing matters than how Bakura chose to deal with his attackers. "You didn't come here to see if I was safe," he observed.

"No," Bakura admitted, growing serious again. "I came in the off chance I could pick up a few more Millennium Items for my collection, should they have gotten away from you. But they went after your servants first, not you, so I presume the rest are safe?"

Placing a hand over the Puzzle, Yami narrowed his eyes. "That isn't for you to know. But Marik and Odeon were not keeping any here."

"And now they have Marik." Bakura glanced past his adversary to the flashing police cars. "My, what a sordid affair this is all becoming."

Growling to himself, Yami turned a shoulder stubbornly. "If you're not going to help me, then go home," he snapped. "I have no time to deal with you. You've eluded your attackers, that's fine, but you made it so we can't question them to find out who they're working for or where they've taken Marik. We have to rely on more conventional means of finding him, now. You've done enough for one night."

He started away, but Bakura called after him. "If you think this is the end of your adventures tonight, pharaoh, you're mistaken. Dead wrong, in fact."

Yami halted and glanced over his shoulder. "What do you know?" he growled.

Bakura stood in his place, hands in his coat pockets, staring. "They struck the weaker prey first," he noted. "It's not that they're not coming for you at all…they're just coming for you last. And if they're at all intelligent, they will use Marik to find out that you have three Millennium Items, not just the one, and will come at you before this night is over." A wicked gleam came into his eyes, as he began to smirk. "Regardless of whether you're home at the time."

Yami's eyes widened suddenly. "Grandpa!" he breathed.

Bakura snickered. "Yes, I can only imagine what those brutes will do to him if he's the only one left standing guard over your Items."

"I have to get back there…" Yami turned to go, needing to touch base with Odeon first before he could return home and protect Grandpa Muto.

"And what will you do, then?" Bakura challenged him. "Do you think you can handle these thugs on your own? Or is the memory of how to use your shadow powers still vacant?"

Yami whirled around with clenched fists. "If you have something to say to me, say it!" he demanded in a hoarse shout. "Enough with the sly language. Out with it, Bakura! What do you want with me?"

Bakura strode forward purposefully to meet him. "I want to come with you."

Yami stared at him. "But…why?" he wondered. "What makes you think I would trust you?"

"I don't expect you to." Bakura stopped just inches from him, face to face, nose to nose, still glaring. "But like it or not, we are both victims of the same attacker. We are reluctant allies against the same foe. I may not want to help you out of any sense of right or compassion, but to see anyone else succeed where I have failed rankles me. If I can't have the seven Items, no one else can either, and I'd rather play some part in preventing it from happening. Not to mention," he added with the most subtle of smirks, "I rather enjoy beating the hell out of people who are weaker than I am. And believe me, these fools are weaker than us both."

Yami faced his challenge with a seething glare of his own. "You ripped those people's souls out of them with only your Ring's powers?"

"Never laid a hand on them," Bakura promised, backing away a step. "Except to roll them out onto the street where the police can pick them up for being passed out drunk or something." He nodded toward the police cars beyond them. "Do you really think they can help you? Or have you come to realize by now that this is out of their hands? They don't know what Millennium Items can do. They have no idea what the lust for their power is doing to people. We are the only ones who can handle this now. If you want Marik back, you had better take me with you."

For a moment Yami said nothing, holding his gaze, but then he grumbled under his breath and turned away. "Wait here," he muttered. "I will be back."

The aid car shut off its emergency lights and began to pull away as he walked past it, though the cop car remained. Yami Yugi climbed the stairs to find Odeon finishing up with the officers, standing at last with bandages wrapped around his middle. His eyes went to the figure in the door immediately, and Yami noticed the flicker of recognition in them. "I will be here," the tombkeeper said to the cops. "Please, call me the moment you have any information."

"And if they call you with any kind of ransom demands, don't take matters into your own hands – call us first," the officer insisted. They wrapped up the discussion and left, shouldering past Yami, who stood outside the door waiting.

Once left alone, Odeon turned to his visitor. "Pharaoh?" he asked cautiously.

Yami nodded. "Yes, it's me. I took over, this situation is too dangerous for Yugi to handle without me." He took a step into the flat and looked around. "I heard what they said. You need to stay here and wait for any information about Marik."

"But you're not safe, now," Odeon warned. "This is only the first strike. They will come after you next."

"I know." Yami looked away. "I will handle it. I must go home and keep them from attacking Grandpa. They've come looking for a Puzzle, but they will find a pharaoh who is willing to do anything to keep those he loves safe."

Odeon took a step towards him. "I will go with you. You need my help."

He grimaced, then, and placed a hand on his wound. Yami rushed in and caught him before he could wilt to the floor. "You're not in any shape to be helping right now," he noted in a more gentle tone. "Please, Odeon. Do yourself and Marik a favor, and stay here. Rest, and wait. The police will find him. I can take care of myself tonight. I have allies in strange places, I will not become a victim."

The tombkeeper frowned at him. "I don't understand."

"You will have to trust me. Rest, now. I insist."

A few minutes later, Bakura watched in interest as the slender figure of his adversary stepped out of the darkened doorway and walked briskly toward him. He gave no sign of welcome as he approached, but as he passed, Bakura heard him growl, "Only on one condition."

The thief raised an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"You and I will both relinquish control of our vessels. Yugi and Ryo will go home, and wait for this attack. They are friends, and Ryo will gladly help Yugi without strings attached. When and if danger strikes, only then will you and I make our play." He stopped and glared over his shoulder at Bakura. "And if you betray me while my back is turned, and offer me up to our enemies as a means of taking my Puzzle, I shall show you just how much of my shadow power I _do_ remember how to use."

The razor-sharp note of anger in his voice was enough to make Bakura recoil a step. He drew a seething breath and said, "fine. It's a deal. On the count of three, pharaoh…"

"Three," Yami retorted.

At the same time, both spirits retreated to the safety of their respective Items, leaving Yugi and Ryo blinking at each other in the darkness. Yugi understood fully what was going on, and before Ryo could even stammer a question, simply said, "Come on, we're going back to my place. I'll explain everything on the way."

Kame game shop was quiet and undisturbed, no one had come to attack it while Yugi was away seeing to his friends' distress. Grandpa hadn't even been woken up by the phone or by the noise of boys blundering in the dark, leaving them free to settle down and wait without having to give any explanations. Ryo's mind had been blacked out for much of the incident so far that night, but everything Yugi told him made sense, so he curled up in the corner of Yugi's bedroom with his arms around his knees, resolving to be there for his friend even if he didn't know how much good he could do. Yugi crouched beside him, the two of them wedged into the space between the foot of Yugi's bed and the wall, near the free-standing closet. It was the darkest corner of the room, where light from the skylight could not reach. It felt odd and unpleasant to be hiding so, but both young men were more than aware of the danger they were in and knew that this might be the only way to make it all stop, in one bold, stupid move. Ryo glanced up at the skylight and breathed a quiet sigh. "Do you think they'll really come tonight?"

Yugi sighed as well. "I don't know anything," he admitted. "But everyone else seems convinced that because they came for you, and then came for Marik, they'll come for me too. We really don't have a choice."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Ryo murmured, "but I'm glad the spirit of the Ring was paying attention. Otherwise, I might have been beaten up, too. Thugs with knives breaking into my flat? It could have been much worse."

"I'm glad you're okay," Yugi said, leaving it at that. "This has gotten way out of hand. I don't even think these people want the Items for the same reason the Ring spirit does – when I mentioned the pharaoh, that Archer guy thought I was crazy. I don't think he knows about the shadow games."

"Weird," Ryo breathed.

They quieted after that, not really feeling in the mood to make small talk while they waited. From there Yugi had a good view of the clock on his bedstand, and was able to watch the night tick by. He wished he were in bed asleep, but not even his tiredness could overcome the innate sense of terror that kept him wide awake and watching the skylight. At least he didn't have to handle this alone – Yami was there, alert, intense, expecting. As soon as there was even the slightest sign of trouble, he would be in control again, and pity the mortal fools who got in his way. Having Bakura there beside him also helped, if only because it kept Yugi from feeling alone in this trial. They whispered a few things back and forth to each other, but only to keep each other awake. Fortunately, they didn't have long to wait. Less than an hour after returning home and ducking into their hiding place, Yugi thought he heard an unusual sound on the roof over their heads. Both of them looked up, following the soft scrabbling noise as it crossed to the skylight, and then a shadow passed over the patch of light falling down into the room from above. The two boys needed no signal; instantly, Yami and Bakura were sitting there, the latter shifting forward into a crouch to be ready to spring. Yami held up a hand to restrain him. "This is my home and my problem," he murmured. "You will follow my lead."

"You don't mind if I don't obey you," Bakura whispered back spitefully. "If I see an opportunity, I will take it."

"At least leave them conscious and in possession of their souls," Yami hissed. "We need to find out what they've done with Marik."

"Fine." Bakura eyed the figure beside him with threatening eyes. He was not there to help, no, but his plans hinged upon the pharaoh not losing possession of the Puzzle, and he would do anything to make sure those plans were not ruined by these upstarts. Even if it meant letting the pharaoh have his way.

The shadows flitting over the face of the skylight seemed to be confident that they were in position, for after a moment the two spirits inside heard the faint scratching noise of the bolt being forced from the outside, and with a bit more noise than should have been made, the pane cracked open. A figure dressed in head-to-toe black swiftly yanked it open, and along with a second, dropped inside. At that instant, Bakura rose to his feet, thrusting out a hand commandingly as he called his shadow magic forth and sprang the waiting trap on them. The Ring's Eye flashed as he called out, "Adhesion Trap Hole!"

The two black figures looked up sharply at the strange voice and words, but they suddenly found their minds clouding, telling them that their feet were stuck to the floor and they couldn't move. They gave a start and thrashed around, and then began to yelp and scrabble at imaginary walls as if trying to climb back out of the skylight. Bakura stood back and laughed, while Yami straightened up and stared. "What did you do to them?" he wondered.

"It's a great trap card," Bakura said flippantly. "Not nearly as fun as Spellbinding Circle, but I wasn't going to wait for _you_ to pull that one." He stepped up to the flailing attackers, who grunted at him and demanded to be let go. Bakura just eyed them suspiciously. "Ah, but I think this won't be enough. If you intend to interrogate them, they need to be held a little more securely." He closed his eyes, holding his hands up around the Ring as if to focus its power. It responded by glowing again, allowing him to tap into his inner power. Bakura looked up and grinned wickedly at the assailants. "And now…how about a Nightmare Steel Cage…"

An apparition faintly shimmered beneath the skylight, as the bands of a cone-shaped cage began to form around the two intruders. It wasn't actually there, or so one would have logically thought, but this magic formed on the borders of the shadow realm was tangible enough to those whose minds were already under the Ring's sway. They beat on the slats of the cage from the inside, and one gruffly shouted, "Let us out of here! What are you doing? Where did this come from?"

Yami stared, but considering Bakura could have attacked them much more seriously and done them harm, he was willing to allow the shadow magic to persist. He stepped out from the corner of the room and paced in front of the imaginary cage, as if to assure himself that it would somehow hold the intruders while he spoke to them. Bakura stood still, his hands now at his sides, admiring his handiwork. Yami stood far enough from him to keep him in sight as well as the intruders. "Who are you?" he sternly asked. "What business do you have breaking into my home at this time of night?"

"What kind of trick is this?" one attacker asked in return. "What have you done to us?"

"It is not your place to be asking questions," Bakura snapped. "Answer the man. What are you doing here, you pitiful excuses for thieves?"

The two strangers looked at each other before one answered, "We've been sent to retrieve the pyramid." He pointed to the Puzzle around Yami's neck.

"You ridiculous fools," Bakura snickered. "Don't you know that if it were that easy, I would have taken it myself a long time ago?"

"Bakura," Yami warned before turning back to the intruders. "Who are you working for? Who sent you?"

The men quieted, then, refusing to answer anything further. Bakura shook his head. "You won't get information out of them that way."

"And what do you propose I do?" Yami retorted. "Erase their minds or send their souls to the shadow realm? How would that help us?"

"Hey, you, with the Ring," one of the thieves suddenly shouted. "What did you do with the team who was sent to your place?"

"Shut up!" the other one hissed at him.

"He did something to them," the first insisted, grabbing his partner by the shirt and shaking him. "That's why they didn't report in. He messed with their minds, too!"

"I would be glad to show you," Bakura answered them, "but we need some information out of you first. Once that's been obtained, I will be all too happy to send you to join your friends."

The two men backed away from him, not liking the tone of his voice. Yami stepped closer and pointed forcefully to them. "Enough of this. You. Tell me, what have you done with Marik? The young man who was kidnapped earlier this evening? Two of your team, just like you, attacked him and his brother and took him. You will tell me what you've done with him, or I will let Bakura do anything he wants to you."

"Mm, that's rather appealing," Bakura chuckled.

One of the thieves swore at them boldly. "I'm not falling for your mind tricks. You can't actually do anything to hurt us."

"If it's a mind trick, then why can't you get out?" Bakura challenged. "Go on, walk through the cage. I dare you."

The man reached out ahead of him, but his hand came into contact with something that made him shiver and drop back. "What the hell? What is this?"

"It's more real than you thought," Bakura said gleefully. "You're lucky. Had I been in charge, I would have just sent a nasty fiend to feed on your soul, but the pharaoh wants to have things his way. At least for now. Maybe later I'll get the chance to play with you."

Yami folded his arms sternly. "I'll ask you one more time. What have you done with Marik? Where is he being held?"

The thieves stared at him, but still refused to say anything. Yami was growing impatient with them, and worse, angry at what they stood for. He saw the combat knives on their belts, and knew that they had broken into his bedroom with the intent of murdering Yugi in his sleep and taking the Puzzle. Though he did not remember the exact way to use shadow magic, in moments like this, when angry enough, threatened enough, the magic came out on its own. The longer the thieves started at him in unsettled silence, the more furious he became. Bakura just eyed him from the other side of the room, waiting to see what he would do. Yami stepped right up to the side of the shadowy Nightmare Steel Cage and glared through the slats at his captives. "You have no answer? Do you simply not know, or are you too stupid to realize the prudence of telling me?"

"What are you going to do with us if we don't?" the snide thief dared.

Power surged through Yami as he focused all his anger on them and their insolence. The Puzzle's Eye flashed, and a golden flame flickered on his forehead as a mystical Eye appeared there also. The two men backed away in surprise. "I could be patient if you simply had no information to give me," he said in a low, threatening tone. "But you have tested the limit of my patience. I have no mercy to spare for you, not when you come here to kill me and steal my Puzzle, to kill or harm the people I care about, and to meddle with powers you know nothing about. If you don't tell me where Marik is, I will enter your mind and find that information for myself." His violet eyes shimmered with anger. "After that, I'm sure your mind will be of no further use to you. Bakura here may be able to toy with your soul and send it places it doesn't want to be…" He lowered his head, making his glare even more deadly. "…but I can crush it into oblivion."

The intruders stood motionless for a moment, staring at him, conflicted as to whether that weird Eye on his forehead meant something or if it was all in their heads, still. At last, the skeptical one snapped and lunged for him, cage or no cage. Yami thrust out a hand and clamped it on the man's face, stopping him cold. It was an easy grip to get out of, especially if the thug had any combat training, but he was so astonished that he faltered just long enough for the pharaoh's spirit to reach his breaking point. Instinct called his inner power to his hands, driven by his desperate need to protect Yugi, Grandpa, Marik, Ryo, and everyone else involved. "Stop!" he commanded. "I've had enough! Mind Crush!"

The man shuddered and suddenly slumped to the floor, unconscious. The other intruder stared at him, and then at Yami. "What did you do to him?" he asked hysterically.

Yami turned dark eyes on him instead. "You heard what I said. He didn't believe me. He paid the price. Now, will you tell me what I want to know?"

The second thug had shown signs of believing what his eyes and mind were telling him. With one more glance at his senseless companion, he stammered, "We took him to a slum on the north side of town. Our orders are to meet Archer there when it's all taken care of. We don't know anything about this Egyptian crap, we're just in it for the money. He's paid us well. Oh shit!" He stared hard at Yami. "Don't tell me these Egyptian things really _do_ have curses on them? Shit!" He backed away from the two shadowy figures staring at him through the cage. "Forgive me! I didn't mean to awaken any curses, I'm just being paid to steal some gold treasures!"

"Aren't we all," Bakura interjected aloofly.

"Bakura," Yami said sharply. "Remove the Nightmare Steel Cage."

Bakura eyed him warily, but with a gesture of his hand, the magical apparition faded. The intruder cowered back even more, dropping to one knee. "Don't!" he begged. "I didn't mean it! You're an ancient ghost or something, aren't you? Please, don't take my soul! I'll tell you anything!"

Beyond them, Bakura started to chuckle eagerly. "Lucky for us, pharaoh, we have a superstitious one," he cooed. "Your ancestors aren't going to protect you from us, little man. We were around long before they were even born."

Yami stepped up to the man and held a hand threateningly over him. "Give me the exact address of this place across town and who is there holding Marik. Anything you can add about Archer would be welcome. Bakura!" he snapped. "Get something to write this down."

Sighing, Bakura went to Yugi's desk and fished out a pen as the black-clad intruder stammered out all the information he could possibly give, his eyes on the Puzzle and the golden Eye on Yami's forehead the entire time. Once they had secured every last detail from their captive, the two spirits stood before him, glaring down at him. "What do you intend to do with him now?" Bakura asked sullenly. "Send him on his merry way so he can warn his boss that we're after him?"

"No." Yami strode closer and set his hand firmly on the intruder's head, eliciting a terrified "eep" from him. "I can't condone anything done in the name of greed, but I am willing to allow for remorse and repentance. I will make sure that if he goes back to those who paid him to come here tonight, it will render their plans useless."

"No, please, stop!" the man pleaded.

Yami glared down at him, searching out his eyes and holding his gaze. "It is not my place to judge you as good or evil," he said solemnly. "But I must protect the ones I love. You asked me not to hurt you, so I won't." The Puzzle began to glow, and the man stiffened in fear. Yami held firm, though. "I'm placing a trap in your mind. A Crush virus, you might say. If you return to Archer, even if it's to report what happened here, you will instantly forget every order he ever gave you, and deliver to him this message: I am the Nameless Pharaoh whose Puzzle you seek." Yami closed his eyes and recited it in dramatic tone. "Leave the Millennium Items alone, and trouble the young men who are destined to bear them no more, or you shall be the next in line to receive my wrath. And when you have said this," he added, opening his eyes and staring down his victim, "your memories of this night and my appearance will vanish, leaving you a clean slate in which to start a new life if you wish. If I were you, I would do so." Another flash of the Puzzle, and the power which surged from his hand knocked the intruder back. Yami stepped away from him, back to where Bakura stood next to the bed, arms crossed, frowning distrustfully. "Now go. Take your comrade and get out of my sight before Bakura gives you a reason to hurry."

"I'll give you a reason, all right," Bakura growled. "You're going to just let them go? You can do far worse than that, pharaoh. I know you have it in you. Come on, let's see your real power."

"Don't tempt me," Yami said shortly.

The two young men stood aside to watch, and not help, as the thug picked his unconscious partner up off the floor and hauled him through the skylight, before pulling himself up after him and fumbling around on the roof. It couldn't have been easy to get the senseless man off the roof, but right now Yami did not care. He waited until silence fell around them again, and then went to pick up the piece of paper Bakura had left on the desk. "What now?" Bakura wondered with a bit of a taunt in his voice.

"I don't know that part of town," Yami said quietly, relying on Yugi's memories to aid him. "But I know someone who does." He glanced over his shoulder, eyeing the dark spirit warily. "You've done well, but I'm sure I can go on without you. You're free to leave anytime."

"And miss out on all the fun?" Bakura stepped up beside him and nodded toward the paper with the address. "You're going, aren't you? Going to make some kind of heroic charge and rescue your little servant?"

"Marik is my friend," Yami corrected him, "and I never leave a friend stranded."

"I can't let you have all the fun," Bakura said with a comical pout. "You're going too soft on your enemies. You need someone along who will not hesitate to do what's necessary to stop these people once and for all. For that, you need me. I don't have your moral sensibilities – those you're borrowing from your vessel, that is."

Yami scowled at him. "That's all you're after, is it? The chance to smack someone around?"

"Well, in the off chance you fail in your mission," Bakura said breezily, "I want to be there to snatch some Millennium Items from you, but in the meantime, yes. That's all I want."

Though it rankled him to do so, Yami sighed and relented. "Fine. You may accompany us. But it will not be you and I alone this time. If you can't work with the team, you're welcome to go home and let Ryo get some sleep. Back out anytime you want. Now, go down to the street and make sure our 'friends' are long gone. I will be with you in a moment."

Bakura thought about taunting or arguing, but one look at the glare in the pharaoh's eyes made him think better of it. With a little haughty sniff, he turned on his heel and left the bedroom. Yami listened for his steps on the stairs before doing the last thing he needed to do, which Bakura did not need to witness. He went down the hall to the linen closet and stealthily retrieved the Millennium Rod from its hiding place. Marik may not have wanted to use its power or its blade to protect himself, but right now, the pharaoh reasoned, he needed every tool at his disposal to end this fiasco.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Chapter 7

Odeon answered the door with a startled and angry look at who was standing with the pharaoh in the hallway. "You!" he seethed. "What are you doing here?"

"I've been invited along for the party," Bakura said in a pleased lilt. "So, you also know who I am?"

"I know enough. Pharaoh…" Odeon turned confused eyes on Yami, who stood with his hands in his pockets and his eyes downcast. "Why?"

"He can be of some assistance," Yami said simply, lifting a gaze to Odeon that said he would not stand to be argued with. "We have the information we need. Are you ready to go?"

Odeon stepped back, allowing the two ancient spirits to enter his flat. "What do you mean? The police haven't…"

"The police are of no use to us now," Yami declared as he crossed the room. "If you're up to it, I would like you to come along. We're going to rescue Marik. I know where he's being held. I called Joey, he's on his way to pick us up and take us there."

"But how do you know?"

Yami glanced at him, and Odeon was able to see the tiredness behind his stern look. "I will explain everything on the way."

Shortly after, Joey appeared in the doorway trying unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn. "Yo, are you sure about this, Yug?" he asked his friend as he joined them. "Bringing the freak show along too?"

"Is that any way to treat an old friend, Joey?" Bakura said snidely.

"Don't give me that," Joey retorted. "I know who you are. You're not Bakura. You're the other one. The nasty one."

Bakura started to give Joey a raised middle finger, but Yami got in between them, blocking their view of each other. "Joey," he said seriously, facing his close friend, "we need his help. It's because of him I was able to interrogate the men who attacked me, and find out where Marik is. You'll just have to trust me."

"I trust you," Joey assured. "It's him I don't trust."

"Nevertheless…" Yami looked around at all of them. "Are we agreed, then? My truce with Bakura will last until Marik is safe, or until he chooses to leave. Until then, we are together."

"Fine," Joey sighed.

"I agree," Odeon nodded.

The four of them went down and piled into the car Joey had borrowed from Mai, after being dragged out of a deep sleep in the middle of the night with the news that his best buddy had been attacked in his home by thieves seeking the Millennium Puzzle. As promised, Yami related the story of what happened in Yugi's bedroom while they drove to what was commonly referred to as the "bad" side of town. Yugi didn't know it very well, but Joey had frequented that area in his street-punk days when getting into trouble was his favorite pastime, so he not only recognized the address, he could take them straight to it. They parked a couple of blocks away, and followed as Joey led them through yards and alleys to the back side of the building in question. They grouped up behind a crumbling wall and peered past it to the abandoned building, noting that there were lights on in a room near the back corner of the structure. "There she is," Joey pointed out in a low whisper. "Place is supposed to be deserted, any business that tried to move in has gone belly-up within months. But it looks like somebody is home."

"It's them," Yami said quietly. "It must be. This is the place the man said he brought Marik. The same two who attacked me were the ones who took Marik earlier."

"What are they doing up?" Joey wondered, still looking past them at the lights gleaming in the back windows. "It's two in the morning!"

"They're guarding a prisoner while their colleagues supposedly break into houses on the other side of the city," Odeon reminded him with a touch of exasperation.

"Oh…you got a point there."

Yami shifted his gaze, meeting Joey's eyes. "Joey? Are you going to accompany us?"

"Hell yes," Joey said sharply. "I'm not lettin' you go in there by yourself. Not with a freak and a cripple as backup. You need some force behind you."

"All right, then. As long as you know what you're getting into." Yami peered around the wall at the back of the building, locating the nearest door with just a glance. "We have to get Marik out of there before they take him anywhere else, or hurt him. The others may have failed, but Archer doesn't know that yet."

"Are we gonna sneak in or bust in?" Joey asked.

"What do you think?"

"Let's just go and get this over with," Bakura grumbled. "I'm all for barging in and beating the crap out of them."

"It's the pharaoh's call," Odeon argued. "He chose this time to act."

"Look, this ain't complicated," Joey put in. "There's no time to discuss it in committee. We'll break in. See?" He pointed around the corner. "There's a loading dock back there, it's probably locked but at least we can get to it without being seen. If they're really on guard, they'll be watching that other door. By the time we get in they'll be onto us anyway, so I say we go in hard and fast." He gave Yami a fierce look. "I'll go in first. I'm bigger than you, and I can get in a few good hits before they even know what's coming."

"You don't have to protect me, Joey," Yami said softly. "I'm not the fragile friend you're used to. I'm in control of more power than you would expect." He reached into his coat, then, and from behind his back drew the Millennium Rod. Faint light from the street gleamed sensually around the curves of its smooth, spherical head.

All three of the others recoiled in surprise. "You sly bastard," Bakura complained.

"Yug!" Joey exclaimed, trying not to shout. "What are you doing with that?"

"Are you sure this is wise, pharaoh?" Odeon added.

Yami laid the head of the Rod in his hand and gazed down at the Eye facing him. "I know what I'm doing," he murmured. "I trust that I will be able to wield it, just for tonight. Just for as much as I need it to do. The important thing is that we go in without hesitating, and ensure Marik is safe first. After that, we will deal with his kidnappers by any means necessary," he said darkly.

The others stared at him, but then Joey laid a hand on his arm. "All right, I'm with ya," he said firmly. "You do what you have to do. Come on, let's do this."

He led the way across the empty lot to the loading dock in the rear of the building, where in times past various businesses had brought in supplies, but the door was padlocked now that no one owned it. All it took was a piece of a metal bar in Joey's hands, and he had pried the lock right off the door. While he was working on it, Yami crouched behind him, holding the Millennium Rod gently and closing his eyes to turn his mind inward. Yugi was with him, bonded, listening, but he knew that this was the pharaoh's time and allowed him a pure, uninterrupted connection to his powers contained in the Puzzle. When Yami spoke within his mind, it wasn't to his partner, but to the Items in his hands. _Millennium Rod_, he intoned seriously. _I don't know whether it is my right to bear you, but as the Pharaoh I ask you to lend me your strength. You have great power and are capable of many things, but your true keeper doesn't know of his right to carry you. For now, I ask that you obey just this once. Once is all I need_. He heard the rattle of metal as the lock fell to the ground and opened his eyes, looking to see the others tensed to rush in. Joey gestured for them all to be quiet as he poked his head in, listening for any sign that anyone had heard the break-in. Yami rose to his feet, back straight, Rod in his right hand. _Very well. The time is now_.

Joey went first, with Yami right behind him, followed by Odeon and Bakura trailing last. It was next to impossible to see anything in the pitch-dark building, but it was completely empty of even furnishings or shelves, so they didn't run into anything along the way. Light filtered through cracks around the door to the room where the thugs must have been holed up, but no one stood outside it on guard, at least not in this direction. Joey and Yami paused together, gauging the threat, and nodded to each other to indicate their readiness. If the door was locked, they were about to foolishly announce their presence and fail to capitalize on the element of surprise, but there was no other way they could enter. Joey lowered his shoulder, put himself into a ready stance, and took a deep breath. The others could almost see him silently count to three, and then he lunged, slamming into the door. It burst open, spilling him into a room lit by a single dangling lightbulb. Yami was right on his heels, swinging the Millennium Rod around and pointing it straight into the room. Whether or not he knew what he was doing was not the issue anymore; he remembered seeing Marik's evil side do this with the Rod when he possessed it, so he automatically assumed it was one of the Rod's powers. At least, it would be in his hands. The instant he saw the three seedy-looking men jump up in surprise from their makeshift table, his boiling emotions focused on them as the source of an entire night's worth of pain and anxiety, making them an immediate target for the Rod's wrath. He could feel the energy raging in him and surging through his arm, as a shockwave pulsed outward from the Rod and bowled into the strange men, knocking them all sprawling. Joey had regained his feet and rushed into them, then, a fist cocked back to strike. He grabbed the nearest one and slugged him in the jaw while the others were still trying to pick themselves up from the invisible shove they had all received. Yami was still charging, going straight into the middle of them and leveling the Rod at one. "Where is he?" he commanded.

Bakura had been the last one into the room, but he saw what the pharaoh had done and stared in shock that he had been able to use the Rod so. He saw the third man getting up behind Yami, while the pharaoh's attention was distracted with his interrogation, and raced for him, barreling into him from his blind spot and knocking him over again. Yami glanced briefly to see what had happened, but didn't take his attention off the thug before him for a moment. Bakura gripped his victim's face in one hand, grinning in delight. "Don't move, or I'll put your soul someplace nasty," he challenged in a grim hush. "Or maybe I'll just rip it out of you and let it float away into nothingness."

Yami ignored him and pointed the Rod at his own adversary, glaring down its length. "The one you're supposed to be guarding," he demanded, "where is he?"

"Pharaoh!" Odeon had hunted around the room, and found a closet off to the side with a locked door. He shook the handle, but it wouldn't budge for him. "Here, I think he's here," he called out.

The thug tried to reach for the Rod and push it away, but instead of using its shadow power, Yami just raised it and clouted him across the head with it. The one Bakura was intimidating was the only one left conscious, now that Joey had gotten his aggression out by beating on the third, so they all closed in on him. With the Rod in his hand like a scepter and a vicious glare on his face, Yami looked every bit the powerful pharaoh as he stood over the man, trusting Bakura and Joey to hold him down so he couldn't hurt any of them. "Give me the key to the closet," he ordered in a low voice. "Now."

Seeing as he was outnumbered, the thug had no reason to withhold it. He pointed to the man Joey had beaten up. "He's got it! Damn, where the hell did you people come from?"

Odeon rolled the dazed man over and searched him for the key, finding it in a shirt pocket. He unlocked the door to reveal Marik hunched on the floor in a little ball, his arms bound behind his back, his feet lashed together, and a gag in his mouth. He barely lifted his head as Odeon rushed in to untie him, groaning a little at the bright light that invaded his prison so suddenly. Seeing him there like that inflamed Yami's aggression and fury tenfold. Threats to his lover and friends were incendiary enough, but the sight of Marik hurt, dazed, and captive pushed him over the edge. Bakura felt the pulse of a fresh wave of shadow magic and looked up sharply to find the pharaoh glowering darkly down at the thug who had the misfortune of being still conscious at the moment. "Are you responsible for what was done to Marik?" Yami seethed.

The man raised an arm defensively, even though Joey was still clinging to it. "We didn't touch him!" he cried. "He came here like that! We just tied him up and threw him in there, we were waiting on orders where to bring him."

Yami held his deadly gaze. "From Archer?"

"Yeah, yeah, that guy. The American. He was coming back after he heard from the rest of his group. Said he might want to ask this kid a few questions. I don't know anything about the rest of it!"

"Hey. Yami." Joey reached up and brushed the Millennium Rod aside with a gentle gesture. "It's okay, we got Marik. This guy's nothing. Let it go."

Bakura said nothing. He was watching everything intently, wondering just how far the pharaoh would go when pushed, but afraid of what he'd find. For all his taunts about the pharaoh being unable to remember how to use the power of the Puzzle, he could see for himself now what Yami was capable of under the right circumstances. When his emotions were plucked in just the right way, instinct took over and if it came down to a battle of shadow powers, Bakura realized he would lose. It was in his best interests to just keep silent and neither provoke nor warn the pharaoh right now.

Yami still held the Rod in white-knuckled fingers, ready to thrust it at the cowardly man and use its power to pin him down, throw him into the wall, even drive out his soul if that were possible, but then he felt a softness trickle through his mind like falling water, like snowflakes or sakura petals. Phantom arms seemed to come around his soul, and he could hear his partner's gentle voice from within. "Don't, Yami. Let him go. I don't want you to do something you'll regret."

Taking a deep breath, Yami let it out in a heavy sigh and lowered the Rod to his side. "What do you think, Joey?" he asked in a weary, solemn voice. "What should we do with him?"

"Well, we gotta stop all of them from coming after us," Joey noted. "I say we tie 'em up and lock 'em in the same closet where they had Marik. See how they like it."

Yami breathed slowly, calming himself, while Yugi's spirit caressed him from within to quiet him even further. "Can you handle that?" he asked Joey.

His friend grinned. "Oh yeah. Watch me. Hey, Bakura, give me a hand, eh?"

Though he didn't much want to, Bakura consented to assisting with the binding and imprisoning of the three men who had been left to guard Marik. Meanwhile, Yami tucked the Millennium Rod away inside his coat and went to see to Marik for himself. Odeon had loosed him and held him until he could regain his wits, so now Marik sat slumped on the floor, leaning against his brother, squinting up through one swollen eye. "Pharaoh," he realized as Yami crouched beside him and touched his face gingerly. "How did you guys find me?"

"It's a very long story," Yami sighed. "Are you all right?"

"I'm pretty sore," Marik admitted. "I could use some sleep."

"At this point, we all could."

"Hey," Joey interrupted them from across the room. "I got my cell phone. Want me to call the police and tip them off that these guys are here?"

Yami glanced over his shoulder and faintly smiled. "I think that would be just fine, Joey. But let's get out of here, first. I'd rather not have to explain our vigilante actions to them." He glared for the briefest second. "But we still don't have the one who started it all. Archer. He wasn't here, and I'm not waiting around for him to come back."

"Not after we incapacitated his other henchmen," Bakura pointed out. "His plans are shot to hell. I don't think he'll come back here. These cowardly fools are left high and dry." He closed the door on three very worried-looking small-time thugs.

"Now isn't the time," Marik worried, clasping Yami's hand. "Let's get out of here, first, and give ourselves time to rest and recover. We'll regroup in the morning. By then, the police may know more."

"Very well," Yami agreed, reaching to help Marik to his feet. "Come, I've got you. Joey…"

"If you don't mind," Bakura said as they passed through the door and located the nearer one which led straight outside, "my flat isn't far from here. I'll take my leave, there's no sense in dragging me along while the rest of you get all fluffy with each other."

"Fine." Yami gave him a quick look. "Your assistance was appreciated."

"I told you, pharaoh," Bakura said hotly, storming past him into the yard and away towards the street. "You're going soft on your enemies. Tonight meant nothing – I am still your enemy, and you had better treat me as such or you _will_ lose that Puzzle before it's time."

Yami glared after him as he stalked away into the night. "No, Bakura," he murmured under his breath. "I haven't forgotten that you are my enemy. I am all too clear on that point." He shook his head and continued to guide Marik along with him. "Let's go."

In the glaring brightness of morning, Yugi had to beg and plead his grandfather to swap shifts with him so he could go back to sleep, which required a reluctant admission to the break-in and other tragic events of the previous evening which Solomon had slept straight through. As much as he wanted to scold Yugi for getting in over his head and acting without waking his grandpa up to tell him right away what had happened, one look at Yugi's weary, sad eyes made him rethink it. Instead, Grandpa just asked whether the police had been called about the incident, and upon hearing that they had, told Yugi to go back to bed. There wasn't anything they could do now, except fix the broken deadbolt on the skylight in Yugi's room and move forward. When he finally got up, Yugi bundled himself in his coat and said he was going to check on Marik, to use his remaining free time in the day to compare notes and decide what to do next.

Sleep and a fresh new day had left Marik looking much better than he had in the middle of the night, sporting just a bruise under his left eye and a cut lip as evidence of his ordeal. Yet, he sat wrapped in a blanket in the middle of the living room, a morose look on his face even after Yugi came in and sat with him for a while and talked of being glad they were all okay. "It isn't over," he complained to Yugi. "I don't think the pharaoh's warning will make a bit of difference to Archer, he isn't through with us yet. And now both Odeon and I are injured – him worse than me."

Yugi glanced up and through the door to the bedroom, where Odeon was currently on the phone to Egypt to brief Ishizu on the important happenings. "I know, but now they've done enough harm to get the police involved," he reminded his friend. "Hurting both of you, kidnapping, breaking and entering…he can't expect to traipse around here free and easy anymore. And if he tries to leave the country, they'll be waiting for him."

Marik tried to smile through his pain, his blue eyes soft. "That wasn't what the pharaoh thought last night, or he wouldn't have done what he did."

Yugi sobered considerably. He had been a full and willing partner with Yami through it all, though he had not made any of the decisions himself. "He didn't have a choice," he explained. "His loved ones were in danger. The police didn't know where to look for you, and they had no intention of staking out my place on my suggestion that maybe they'd be coming after me next."

"What you did was incredible," Marik murmured. "Everyone. You even got Bakura to help you."

"I'm pretty sure he was just helping himself in some way," Yugi grumbled. "So…what do we do, now? Do we go back to standing guard until Archer shows up again, or do we sit back and let the police handle it?"

"Odeon spoke with the detective who has all the Interpol business in his jurisdiction this morning," Marik reported. "He's on the hunt, but he can't promise any kind of swift action."

Odeon appeared in the doorway, then, carrying a cell phone. "Marik?" he asked gently. "Do you want to say goodbye to your sister before I let her go?"

"Please…" Marik reached up and took the phone, a smile reawakening on his face as he heard the sweet voice on the other end. His own voice changed for the softer. "I'm okay, Ishizu," he assured his sister. "Really. Yugi's here right now…" He lifted his chin and smiled at Yugi. "She says hi," he added. "I promise, I'll take better care of myself. Hm? Oh…okay. Thank you, sister. Yes, I will. Goodbye." He closed the phone and handed it back to Odeon, his face going stony again. "What is this you're supposed to talk to me about, now?"

Odeon gave him a hesitant look. "Ishizu has a reason to have asked you to return to Egypt, it isn't about you being hurt and captured last night."

Yugi looked up at both of them, startled. "What? Ishizu wants you to go back to Egypt? When?"

"As soon as possible," Marik said sadly. "I don't want to leave, though, our work isn't finished, here. While Yami was able to take very good care of things last night, he may not be so lucky next time. You need allies." He pouted up at his brother. "What happened to me only makes me more firm in my desire to stay here and protect the pharaoh. I won't fail again."

"Marik…" Odeon dropped his kind, brotherly tone in favor of a scolding one. "It isn't about you getting hurt. Something happened in Egypt last night as well. Ishizu is still dealing with the aftermath."

Marik's eyes went wide. "What? Why didn't she say anything to me?"

"Because she's your sister and she loves you. Now listen to me." Odeon faced him sternly. "We weren't the only ones attacked. A few hours ago, while it was still dark in our home village, someone broke into the ancient catacombs where we used to make our home as tombkeepers. They were looking for further news of the Millennium Items, since the Rod and the Necklace used to reside there. It appears they know of the ones that never left Egypt, and are desperately seeking Shadi as we speak. None of us are safe any longer."

Marik scowled viciously, sitting up sharply. "They'll never find Shadi. They have no idea where he dwells or even what they're looking for. We hardly know where he is, most of the time, and he's been in contact with us more than anyone else lately."

"Nevertheless, the trouble never did truly leave Egypt to come here instead," Odeon said solemnly. "It appears Archer is not in charge of the operation after all. He may have hired the men who attacked us last night, but someone else is pulling his strings – someone who could order forces in both countries to make their move on the same night. Someone who is probably far away from us all right now and has the resources to be paying for all of this criminal activity."

"Then, it's not safe in Egypt, either," Yugi worried. "Why should you go back home if people are there looking for you?"

"It's not us." From the melancholy tone of Marik's voice, Yugi guessed that he understood exactly what all of this meant. He stared at the floor as he spoke. "They saw the scriptures on my back last night. They must have told Archer, who in turn knew to look back in Egypt for their meaning. Damn them, they're no better than tomb robbers, for breaking into our former home. Much is still kept in that sanctuary, not all of it having to do directly with the Items, but with the pharaoh."

Yugi began to feel some of his defeat in his own heart. "At least the tablets are safe with Pegasus."

"Yes, thank goodness for that small blessing." Marik shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, Yugi. This is serious news. I…I have to consider it. I'm not safe no matter where I go, but right now our enemy knows that I'm here. I may need to leave the country after all."

As much as he wanted to beg Marik not to go, Yugi understood that this was bigger than him, beyond his power to control. He simply clasped Marik's hands between his and held them warmly. "I'll leave you to think about it," he said wisely. "It's your decision. You and Odeon need to talk it over, and decide for yourselves. If you have to go, I'll just find some other way of protecting myself."

"I'd suggest you come with us," Marik added with a wry sort of smile, "but I don't think the pharaoh ought to be hanging around where people are looking for every last trace of him."

"No, probably not." Yugi rose to his feet and made to leave them. "At least we know one thing, now – Yami was able to use the Millennium Rod when he needed to. It might come in handy again."

"You be careful with that," Marik warned. "It's a powerful Item, yes, but it doesn't belong to you or I. There's no telling what effect it might have."

"Don't worry…" Yugi smiled at them and took his leave, wishing them both well before heading out to the street and walking home. He went upstairs through the house instead of the shop, not wanting to face his grandfather just yet, and wandered silently through the rooms to the linen closet. He had hidden the Rod again after returning home in the middle of the night, but the reminder of it made him want to go and check on it. It was fine, resting comfortably wrapped in a towel to keep it from being scratched. As he settled it back in its place, Yugi's hand found the Necklace also hidden there, and drew it out for just a moment. The smooth, polished finish of the Eye made light play across its curves in a mesmerizing fashion, until Yugi realized he was staring into it, losing himself in his thoughts. He remembered the one time the Necklace had responded to him – or, really, to Yami – and showed him the future. Would it do it again, if only he asked? He had a desperate need to know this was going to work out, that Archer could be found and no one would be killed or Items stolen. Yet, as he held the Necklace, trying to muster the strength of will to ask it, something in his heart said no. _No_, he said to himself, and to his listening partner. _I can't. It's not right. What if it shows me something I don't want to see? What if the future won't turn out all right? I wouldn't know what to do_. He brushed his hand across the Necklace reverently and wrapped it back up with the Rod in their safe place and closed the closet door. "Yami?" he whispered aloud.

The pharaoh's phantom presence appeared at his shoulder. "Yes, my love?"

"Remember what I said, not too long ago, about finding myself wishing for adventures when my life gets boring and routine?"

Yami chuckled softly. "Regretting your comment, are you?"

"Just…the next time I say that, because I know I'll say it again…" Yugi tried to smile. "Tell me, 'be careful what you wish for.' Maybe then I won't be so eager for these adventures."

The following morning, Yugi lurked around the house as if expecting bad news at any time, knowing that when Marik and Odeon did finally show up or call to discuss their next step with him, regardless of whether they were staying or fleeing, it wouldn't be happy for anyone involved. Now that they knew the lengths to which Archer and his mysterious foreign backer would go to obtain the Millennium Items, things had gone from casually worrisome to completely awful. In a fit of morbid angst, Yugi found himself curled up on the couch with the Puzzle in his hands, mentally discussing with Yami where this episode ranked compared to some of the other terrible things they had gone through together as a result of the Items and the pharaoh's existence. At least this time no one was losing their souls, but the threat of being killed over an ancient treasure seemed just as bad to Yugi. It was with great relief that an innocuous phone call interrupted this dark line of moody thought. "Hey!" Duke Devlin said brightly as Yugi took the call. "I just wanted to see if you were interested in coming down to watch the regional tournament at my shop. Find out if there's anyone interesting going for a shot at you, you know."

"Oh, Duke," Yugi sighed. "I'd like to, I really would. But…things are a little crazy around here at the moment. I don't know if I'll have time to get away…"

"I know the feeling," Duke said wryly. "Holiday rush and all. Are you guys staying open later hours?"

"A little, but…that's not what I meant." Yugi stopped himself there, not wanting to drag anyone else into his problems at this point. Joey was already too involved as it was. "I can't make any promises, but I sure would like to watch. It's next Sunday, right?"

"Yeah, a week from this Sunday," Duke affirmed. "It's set up to be a one-day thing, I've got arenas on four levels committed to it. Man, you should see all the kids who signed up to compete. Good thing I've got extra help around the store for the holidays already, it's going to be a madhouse."

"All right. Well, I'll see how things are next week, and maybe I'll show up," Yugi said quietly. "I know Joey and Mai were curious, too. Maybe if things work out, we'll all be there together."

"I'll save you some VIP seats," Duke chuckled. "No worries, if you can't make it, it'll just be a surprise when you get to the world tournament. Cool. Catch you later…"

Yugi hung up the phone with a sigh, and inwardly cursed Archer and his cronies with a few choice words Yami was sure he had never heard Yugi use before.

It was very late at night when Marik finally came by, having waited until after the game shop was closed and he could have Yugi's undivided attention for a little while. Odeon was with him, but remained quietly in the background in a purely observational stance while Marik sat with Yugi on the couch. He was looking rather downhearted already, but Yugi couldn't be sure if that was because of the news he was about to deliver, or because he and his brother may have argued earlier about their plan of action. "Is there anything new?" Yugi asked first of all. "Any word at all from the authorities?"

"They're looking, but this guy is good at what he does," Marik sighed. "He didn't give any information to the guys who were holding me, so they had nothing to tell the police. There's no way to contact or track him, and the two hired thieves Bakura struck down are of no use. They haven't regained consciousness."

Yugi nodded in acknowledgement. "And, what about Egypt? Is Ishizu okay?"

"Yes, she's fine. But she's going into hiding, at least temporarily, until this can be brought to an end." At that, Marik's eyes saddened even further, his head drooping a little more. "Yugi? May I speak to Yami directly about this?"

Yugi blinked at him. "Uh…I guess so. But…anything you say to him, I'll hear anyway…"

"It's not that I want to keep anything from you," Marik assured, lifting his eyes just enough to force a smile. "I just…feel more comfortable discussing his fate with him, face to face. I think he's the only one who can protect you, now."

Though it filled him with some trepidation to hear it put like that, Yugi consented, and in a flash Yami was awake and sitting straight with deep, solemn eyes focused on Marik. "Then, it is as I feared," he murmured. "You're leaving."

Marik lowered his gaze again. "Odeon and I have argued long about it," he admitted. Behind them, where Odeon stood by the wall, he, too, looked away. "My heart wants to stay, and I've tried reasoning out why I should, but in the end, I have little choice. I'm no longer a guardian, I'm a target just like you, which makes it really hard for me to effectively protect you. I don't want you to think that I'm abandoning you, but…any power I had to guard you and keep your enemies at bay is being stripped away from me every minute that goes by. You had to save me, that's not how it should work."

Yami gazed sympathetically at him. "I don't feel as though you're abandoning me, Marik," he said reassuringly. "I understand the difficult position you're in. I know your heart is strong, and you desire to stay here and protect me against all better judgement. But not even I can demand that you do so, when there are other things to consider."

"The only thing that I could do now is to take the Rod as you offered," Marik added, "and tap into its powers again, but it's left me. Once a Millennium Item is passed on to a new guardian, the old one needs to just let go. It can never come back again." He lifted his head and met the wise eyes of the pharaoh's spirit. "As long as you know I still have this little gem of foolish courage deep down that wants to ignore all logic and reason and stay here till the end. The rest of me knows, it's time for me to go. It's not practical for me to stay here, in a foreign country far away from home, when my sister is in danger there and all the people who can do the most immediate damage to me are here. I need to get away before they try to use me against you. I'd like to think I'm strong, but there's no telling what they'd do to me to make me give in."

"I'd be more concerned about them using you as a means to get me to come to them, and bring them the Items to ransom your life," Yami said quietly. "They don't know of my other friends, all they know is you and Bakura. The two of us can take care of ourselves, but you no longer have control of shadow powers."

"Exactly why I need to get away. Far away," Marik sighed.

"Go to your sister," the pharaoh encouraged. "She needs you now, and she would be very angry with me if I selfishly kept you here for my sake."

Marik suddenly leaned forward and seized his hands. "It's up to you to protect Yugi," he demanded. "You're the only one. I saw with my own eyes what you're capable of when you have to take control. I can't leave without making sure that you won't let anything happen to him."

A warm look glowed in Yami's violet eyes. "My entire existence is dedicated to protecting Yugi. Asking me to do this is like asking me to breathe. You don't need to worry that I'll let him down." He pulled his left hand free and brandished the silver ring at his friend. "I promised I wouldn't leave him or fail him. This is my witness."

Giving a soft sigh, Marik nodded and withdrew. "I know," he said, "I expected nothing less but…I just needed to hear you say it. For my own comfort."

Yami nodded. "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow. We have a flight out in the afternoon."

"Yugi will probably want to work an early shift, then, so we can be at the airport to see you off."

Marik bowed his head modestly. "You don't have to do that…"

"Of course we do. We are both your friends." Yami smiled faintly. "It will be sad to see you go, but I know we'll see each other again. Especially if you continue to do your duty as a tombkeeper so well."

Marik laughed a little. "Yes, I'm pretty sure we'll cross paths again. Maybe sooner than either of us expects."

Nodding again, Yami closed his eyes to signal that he was about to depart. Yugi regained control of himself and clasped Marik's hands again. "I'll come down to say goodbye at the airport," he promised. "I know the others would want to as well, but the less noise we make about you leaving, the better. Right?"

"It's probably for the best," Odeon agreed, finally speaking from where he had been listening. "We must slip away before Archer realizes we're gone. We'll have to have the big send-off some other time."

"I miss you already," Yugi complained.

"Me too." Marik squeezed his hand and let go. "It's been nice to see friends again. Everyone here is so cool, and so much fun to hang around with. I wish I could stay long enough to see this madness end so I could see them all one more time. But it's all out of my hands, now. I need to return to Ishizu so all three of us can lay low for a little bit. I'll make sure to contact you once it's over, all right?"

"Of course." They lingered just long enough for Marik to pass on the flight time and information, so Yugi could meet them at the airport, and then they said their farewells for now. It was late anyway, and Yugi needed to go to bed so he could take the early shift in the shop. Yet, Yami within him had to sigh in regret as he watched his young love lie awake for several hours, too depressed to sleep and too tired to talk. All he could do from his spiritual position was sit by Yugi's side, understanding everything, communicating his reassurance without words, and wish that he had the corporeal hands to stroke Yugi's hair until he could fall asleep.

Yugi put on a brave smile by the time he made it to the airport, and was strong enough to embrace Marik and promise him that he and Yami would be careful, so long as Marik and Odeon did the same. The brothers had packed up everything they brought with them to Japan, and it was all on the plane now save for Marik's backpack, which carried their money and dueling decks to pass the time on the trip. It was a much more bittersweet parting than the last time they had said goodbye to each other, because Marik knew what he was leaving behind and he wished one last time that he didn't have to. "I just hope it works," Yugi fretted. "As long as it keeps you safe, then that's all that matters." He clasped Marik's hand once more, and then Odeon's. "Tell Ishizu I say hi. Oh, and when you can get back to the 'net, email me and I'll send you any pictures from Mai's party that Serenity sends me."

"Oh, yes," Marik remembered. "Please do. I want to see those. Tell everyone I'll miss them – Joey, Mai, everybody."

"I will," Yugi promised. "Aw, and I'm going to miss your birthday, now! I'll send you something. As long as you email me your address where to send it," he laughed.

Marik smiled. "As long as everything's back to normal and I'm free to do so."

The airline attendants at the desk behind them called for boarding, so Marik had to let go of Yugi and finally leave. As he picked up and shouldered his backpack, Odeon leaned down to speak confidentially to Yugi. For once, his golden eyes were smiling again. "Don't worry," he assured, "come Marik's birthday, I will make sure there is a wireless duel disk waiting for him."

Yugi found himself grinning. "Awesome. Take care, guys," he added to both as Odeon stepped away. Both brothers waved, turned on their heels, and vanished through the doorway to the boarding ramp.

Rather than wait for the plane to take off, Yugi tucked his hands into his coat pockets and left, trusting that the two were now safe from harm and pursuit, at least for as long as they were in the air. Whatever happened when they returned to Egypt was out of his hands. All Yugi had now was the comforting weight of the Millennium Puzzle around his neck, buttoned protectively under his coat. He could feel it thumping against his middle as he walked, and retreated into the safe silence of simply meditating on it while he took a bus across the city and then walked the rest of the way. He had one errand to take care of, something he could do now that he didn't have bodyguards tailing him – get Grandpa's Christmas gift. He needed to get it done quickly, because the longer he roamed about alone, knowing that he was a target for trouble, the less comfortable he felt with it. Just a quick stop at the bookstore on his way home, and it would be enough.

Unbeknownst to Yugi, another Millennium Item was making its way slowly towards him. Ryo Bakura was not up to anything sinister, he merely needed to swing by the bookstore and get some class supplies, since his final exams were just about upon him, but he had taken to wearing the Millennium Ring on his person ever since being attacked out of fear that someone might try to steal it again. It was safer with him, even if any fellow students who noticed it under his sweater gave him odd looks for having such a huge, odd pendant. As he approached the bookstore, he felt the Ring twitch, and glanced down into the folds of his coat to see that one of the dangling tines was pointed ahead and to the right as if indicating something around the corner. _That's strange_, he said to himself. _It's almost like it senses…another Millennium Item. Could it be?_ Despite the Ring spirit's presence inside him, aware of what he was thinking, Ryo felt a tiny blossom of warmth in his heart. There was only one other person in town with a Millennium Item. He quickened his pace to turn the corner and see if the Ring was correct.

Yugi walked with his head down, mostly watching his feet and the sidewalk just in front of him, but he became aware of Yami within him snapping alert. Though the shared sense filled him with dread, he knew he couldn't be ignorant of what the spirit might be aware of. _Yami?_ he asked through his thoughts.

"I don't know, Yugi," came the reply in his mind. "It may be nothing. I can't tell whether it's malevolent or benign."

Glancing around, Yugi couldn't find any reason for Yami to be riled up. There were a few people passing on the sidewalk but not many, and a perfectly quiet flow of traffic past the storefronts. The bookstore was just ahead, he resolved to duck into it and then take a minute to catch his breath and look around, see if perhaps he was being followed. But before he could take another step, a dark car screeched up to the curb beside him and the doors flew open. Yugi hardly had time to even recoil in surprise as two men in suits leaped out and dragged him toward the car. Only then did he realize that they weren't the same dark-clad lackeys as before – these weren't Pegasus' men. That wasn't Pegasus' car. "Hey!" he cried. "Stop it, let me go! Who are you? Hey! HEY!" He struggled, but the men were bigger and just kept pulling him. Yugi began to thrash and scream. "Let me go! No! No, stop it! Let me go!"

One or two people walking by glanced at who was making the ruckus, but shyly averted their eyes and slunk away timidly. One of the men smacked Yugi across the face with the back of his hand. "Shut up!" he demanded. Yugi stared at him in shock – he was American. These weren't locals, and they weren't familiar. The other pinned his arms behind his back and muscled him bodily into the car, throwing him across the seat. Then he and his comrade piled in after him, slamming the door even as the car sped away from the curb.

Bakura had come around the corner just in time to hear the squeal of tires, and watched in horror as thugs swarmed on the short, lithe figure with the obvious hairstyle who had been walking up the street. He started to run towards them, but bumped into a couple of passersby who were hurrying away and could only stare as Yugi was pulled into the car screaming for help. They were gone by the time Bakura reached the spot where he had stood a moment before. Somewhere deep inside his heart, the small flame of courage that Ryo always guarded to himself flared up into bold daring, and he raced off down the sidewalk in pursuit of the car. Fortunately, between afternoon traffic and the slowness of those downtown city streets, it wasn't hard to keep it in sight, but while he ran he let the Ring dangle free so its tines could guide him the rest of the way in case he lost the car.

Yugi cowered in terror in a corner of the luxury car, arms wrapped around himself to keep anyone from touching him. He could feel Yami yearning to get out, but asked him to stay quiet for now, until they knew what they were up against. There was no one recognizable in the car, just the thugs, and they stared silently forward as they rode through downtown, taking him further and further away from home. _Who are they? What do they want with me?_ Yugi wondered. _Are they kidnapping me? How am I going to get out of this? Yami, no…_ He closed his eyes so he could envision Yami facing him, where they could speak openly to each other. "Not here," he begged. "We can't get away from them when were driving down the street. Wait until we stop. If there's any chance at all for us to break free, then yes, take over, do whatever you have to do."

Yami looked supremely angry, but also intensely worried inside this place in their minds. "We must get away, Yugi," he insisted. "If they're trying to take us out of the country, to whoever wants the Millennium Items…"

"If nothing else, make a big huge scene," Yugi suggested, taking his partner spirit's hands encouragingly. "Scream and yell and kick and make it so they can't go anywhere without having the whole world staring at them."

Yami held his hands strongly. "I will do anything it takes to get you safely home."

The car made its way leisurely downtown to the big forest of skyscrapers surrounding the massive KaibaCorp building, not seeming to be in any big hurry to get there. The thugs in the back seat said nothing even as the car pulled up to one of the upscale hotels on that block, parking along the curb out front. The driver waved off the bellhop who started to come forward and opened the door himself, at which point one of the men in suits got out, stopping and looking both ways. The second man pushed Yugi before him, so that the two surrounded him and made it impossible for him to cut and run. Yugi held onto his composure for now, carefully studying his surroundings and the faces of the men guarding him so he could report everything to the police later. The men took him each by one arm, and then one pressed something hard into Yugi's ribs – a knife handle, a gun, he didn't know, it was beneath their coats where no one else would see. "If you make a sound or try to alert anyone," he warned, "you'll be sorry. Now move." Both of them pulled at the same time, steering Yugi forcefully through the door of the hotel.

Bakura had very nearly fallen too far behind, as he was reaching the end of his endurance, when the car stopped outside a luxury hotel. The tines of the Ring all pointed straight ahead as Yugi was pulled out of the car and ushered inside by the determined guidance of the men on either side of him. Ryo could see the grim look of terror on his face even at this distance, but he couldn't let himself be seen in turn. He slowed to a walk and made sure the thugs had gone out of sight, into the hotel, before dashing the rest of the way to follow. When he pushed through the revolving door to the lobby, they were nowhere to be seen, but the elevator doors across the way were closing. Bakura stared after them, his hope starting to deflate since he would not know which floor they were heading to, when he got an idea. Already out of breath, he raced up to the front desk and slammed his hands down on it, startling the concierge. "Did you just see a couple of men come in with a boy with weird hair?" he cried.

The concierge blinked at him, at his wide, pleading eyes and breathless state. "Uh…perhaps. I don't…"

"Please, it's important!" Ryo shouted. The other hotel clerks stared at him as well, unsettled by his urgency. "That boy, he…I saw him get abducted! I saw them snatch him off the street, I think they're going to hurt him!"

"What?" one of the female clerks cried. "Are you sure?"

"Yes! He was screaming for help and trying to get away. I followed them here, somebody has to help him!"

The concierge tried to calm him with a placating hand gesture. "Sir, please, just…relax. I'm sure they're not going to hurt him, he wasn't yelling when they came through here."

"You saw him!" Ryo yelped. "Please, tell me what floor they went to!"

"I-I don't know…"

"At the very least you have to call the police! I promise you, I'm not making it up! I saw them abduct him right in front of me!"

The hotel clerk picked up the phone. "I'll call the police," she said. "Right away."

"Yes, thank you!" Ryo faced the concierge. "Do you have any idea what floor they might have gone to? Please, he's my friend! I don't want him to get hurt!"

The concierge had finally gotten it through his head that this hysterical teenager was not joking. "I don't know," he said worriedly. "I don't think they're guests here. They may be visitors to someone else staying here."

Bakura grimaced and tore himself away from the desk, running to the elevators. "Then I'll just have to try every floor!" he decided, nearly slapping the button when he thought better of it and pushed open the door to the stairwell. He may not have known which floor they went to, or which room, but the Ring would know. The Ring would lead him straight to Yugi.

Aware of the weapon prodding him in the side, Yugi kept quiet and as calm as he could, though he wore an angry glare the whole way. After crossing through the lobby and being unsuccessful at catching the concierge's eye, they met no one else on the way up to the top floor and a very big private suite on it. The man without the weapon knocked, and after a moment the door opened to reveal a face Yugi finally knew. David Archer smiled almost in relief when he saw what the henchmen had brought him. "Well, well," he said, stepping aside to allow them to enter. Yugi couldn't help the momentary flash of awe that passed through him upon seeing the fabulous suite with its velvety carpets and gilded furniture. Archer commanded the men to wait right there, and the moment the door closed they finally let go of Yugi's arms. He rubbed at his arms with a frown, but watched to see what Archer would do. He went to the wide door leading to another room of the suite and leaned on the frame. "They found him," he reported to someone inside. "We've got him."

Another American voice responded from within. "Ah, good. Does he have the Item?"

Archer turned and glared at Yugi. "You, kid. Open your coat."

Yugi hesitated, but decided to do it rather than let the henchmen paw him and violate him. He unbuttoned his coat to reveal the Millennium Puzzle in all its golden glory. Archer's eyes gleamed greedily when he saw it. "He's got it," he affirmed.

Yugi could hear someone in the next room get up from a chair. "All right, then. It's time I had a look at this little delinquent for myself."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, anime, manga, etc. Created for entertainment purposes only.**

Chapter 8

Yugi held his breath as a man came out from the bedroom of the penthouse suite, a silver-haired older gentleman in an expensive-looking suit, thick and pasty in that way that made Yugi immediately assume he was an American businessman. He had a gold chain on his tie and several gold rings on, and moved with a self-assured gait that spoke of power and arrogance. He went straight to Yugi and eyed him distastefully. "You're the holder of the most important Millennium Item?" he wondered.

Yugi stared up at him. "Just who are you?" he asked back.

"I wouldn't expect you to know." The man turned and went to the desk at the far side of the room, near where Archer had decided to go stand so he could watch. He picked up a folder and paged through it. "So you're…Yugi Muto," he said, apparently reading off a piece of paper inside. "Nineteen years old, you work in a game shop…" He eyed Yugi from across the room. "How the hell does a kid like you get his hands on the rarest artifact in the entire history of the world?"

Yugi lowered his eyes very subtly. "Because it's my destiny," he murmured, not caring whether they heard his reply or not.

"Like I said, the Items were all in the hands of young people at last count," Archer spoke up aloofly. "He's got the Puzzle, that Bakura kid has the Ring, the Egyptian teenager had the Rod but he doesn't anymore…"

"Yes, well, it doesn't matter," the man in the suit sighed. "I was merely curious. However they got the artifacts, what really matters is that they're going to give them up to someone more deserving."

"More deserving?" Yugi yelped, his anger overcoming his fear. "What do you know about the Millennium Items? The only people who 'deserve' them are the people whose destiny it is to carry them!"

The man gave him a condescending look. "Ah yes, that's right. David told me you had a sentimental attachment to the Puzzle. I don't know what you've been told, but there is no 'destiny' about it, any more than there are curses in tombs." He set the folder back down and crossed to the suite's bar instead. "Can I get you anything, Mr. Muto?" He glanced aside, and then gestured to his two suited lackeys to back off and go stand by the door, leaving Yugi room to breathe and not feel threatened. "I know you're not old enough to be plied with alcohol, but I can get you coffee, soda, anything."

"No," Yugi said shortly, rudely. "Just let me go. I'm not giving you the Puzzle."

The man poured himself some kind of drink and paced casually across the room like he was in complete control of the situation. "Come now," he scolded, "you could at least sit down so we can talk like civilized adults."

"Civilized adults don't kidnap people off the street and drag them in here at gunpoint," Yugi retorted.

The businessman raised an eyebrow at him but didn't deny the charge. "And you're not willing to listen to any offer I may have to give you? I already offered you enough money to keep you set for the rest of your life, just for that little trinket around your neck."

"And I already told you no," Yugi snapped. "Do you even know what you're asking of me? Do you know anything about the Millennium Items? Why do you want them? What are you going to do if you have all seven?"

The man took a sip of his drink, looking away with a bit of a pleased smile. "I already have an elegant display planned," he said wistfully. "A nice mahogany shelf with perhaps some Egyptian linen draped around it. Six Items in a circle with the Puzzle as the centerpiece…"

Yugi stared, absolutely boggled. "You…you just want to display them?"

"But of course." The man turned and gave him a questioning look. "What else would one do with artifacts as rare and beautiful as these? I wouldn't lock them away in a safe deposit box, even though they're very valuable. My estate has a state-of-the-art alarm system, I'm not worried about theft."

Eyes wide, Yugi fought to pick his jaw up off the floor. "Just who are you, anyway?" he managed to stammer. "If you don't care about the shadow games or the pharaoh's power…"

The man resumed pacing with his drink, heading vaguely back towards the desk and Archer, who stood with his arms folded and a blank look on his seedy face. "I'm a collector," he said simply, still not giving his name. "I have the means to fill my personal art and rarities collections with anything I want. When you're as rich as I am, kid," he added with a sardonic laugh over his shoulder, "indulging your personal tastes and fantasies is all there is to do with your money. My taste is in rare historical items, and what you hold there is the rarest of them all." He turned to face Yugi again, his face darkening with an avaricious grin. "The Millennium Items are in a class by themselves. They're not as well-known as, say, the Holy Grail or the Rosetta Stone, but they're just as legendary and impossible to attain in their own way. So little is known about them, so few people in the world have heard of them. _I_ have." He paced past Archer, ignoring him. "I picked up a reference to them in some writings on ancient Egyptian games by a professor of archaeology named Arthur Hawkins, and after doing some research, I realized how rare and priceless they are. The only items of their kind, created thousands of years ago for a pharaoh who also seems to have disappeared into history. There are hardly any writings about him, and the only knowledge of the Millennium Items is that they were lost when he disappeared. Except that they surfaced again over the past couple of decades…" He strode closer to Yugi, as if coming to snatch the Puzzle. Yugi shrank back from him a step or two, closing his hands around the Puzzle. "There are so few records, I knew it would be difficult to get information on them, but I had no idea. The only legends of the Items were passed down through a family of tombkeepers whose history ran in an unbroken line back to the time of the pharaohs, who themselves had secrets they kept hidden very well. If not for publicity photos of Mr. Maximillian Pegasus from about six or seven years ago, I might have believed it all as charmingly hokey as the Holy Grail legends. That, and the passing comments made in papers by Professor Hawkins, made me a believer. I've been looking for them for years, and I've finally discovered that not only do they exist…" He bent down to eye the Puzzle greedily. "…but they're in the hands of a bunch of Japanese kids."

Yugi backed away from him again, trying to hide the Puzzle by turning a stubborn shoulder to him. "I don't believe you," he gasped. "You just think they're rare artifacts? That's it? You're spending millions of dollars trying to buy or steal them from us just because you want to collect them?" He glared his worst. "That's the most horrible thing I've ever heard. You tried to kill us for these and you don't even realize what'll happen if you get all seven. How could you?"

"They're of no use to you either," the businessman reasoned. "What, did you have it passed down to you as a family heirloom? Those can be bought and sold at any time, Mr. Muto."

Yugi fairly quivered with his inner rage. "Because of you, my friends were nearly killed," he accused in a seething whisper. "Men with knives and guns broke into my house and would have killed me, too. Is that how you do business? If you can't buy it, you may as well take it with violence?"

The man stood there staring him down. "There is nothing I wouldn't do to fill my collection," he said seriously. "I choose people to help me and leave them the freedom to use any means they have to in order to obtain the pieces I want. All I do is pay them the price they ask to get me my items. Whatever Archer did, you can't prove by any means that I ordered him to do it directly. He may be a little rough sometimes," he added with a glance back at his subordinate, "but he gets the job done. And at last, he's brought you to me. You, and the Puzzle."

No matter how many flights of stairs he ran up, the Ring still tugged Bakura higher and higher, until he was practically crawling up them. At the very top, the tines of the Ring finally changed direction, leading him through the door into the hallway and down it towards the grand suites at the end. He stopped in front of the door indicated by his Ring and stared at it, knowing that without a key card or a ruse he would not be able to get in. If those thugs had Yugi trapped in here, they wouldn't just admit him if he knocked. Sighing hard, Ryo realized that if he wanted to get in, he would have to surrender to his inner spirit and let him do the dirty work. His dark side would know what to do. Stepping back until he felt the wall behind him, Bakura leaned on it to catch his breath for a minute, lowering his head. He hated to have to do this, but it was the only way.

Inside, Yugi hunted around for an escape even though he knew there wasn't one. Even if he did let Yami come out, there were four men, all bigger than him, who could do him serious harm if he tried to run. Reasoning with the big shot in charge didn't seem to be helping, but it was his only recourse until he could think of another. "I told Archer, you can't just take the Millennium Puzzle," he argued. "You have to win it from me in a duel. That's the only way to take the pharaoh's power, and I don't think any of you know the first thing about Duel Monsters. I'd win and you'd be back where you started."

The man shook his head. "You have such a fanciful imagination," he mocked. "All I have to do is take the chain from around your neck, no card games need to be involved."

Yugi bristled. "You know nothing," he said darkly. "You don't care about the shadow games, or the pharaoh, or any of it, do you? The Millennium Items are powerful magical objects, not dusty old artifacts from Egypt. If you're not meant to hold one, you couldn't possibly understand the power they have."

"Curses and legends are just what the ancient peoples used to tell each other to keep other people's hands off their stuff," Archer said snidely from across the room. "The only power they have is in the minds of the superstitious."

Yugi shot him a glare. "Did you even get the message the pharaoh sent through your burglar?"

The businessman glanced at his associate. "What is he talking about?"

Archer made a disgruntled face. "The one guy who went completely mental," he explained. "I don't know what he thinks he saw, but when he came back to me, he flipped out and went on about some kind of message from the Nameless Pharaoh. Then he passed out. He's lost his marbles, totally."

"What did the message say?"

"To leave the Millennium Items alone, or I'd be next on his list."

"Ah." The big man smiled condescendingly down at Yugi. "That's what you get for hiring locals," he chided. "They're all superstitious about ancestor spirits coming back for revenge and things like that. It's nothing. Pay it no mind."

Yugi gaped at him, offended for an all new reason. "I can't believe this."

"So, you don't want the money," the man guessed, upending his glass and finishing off his drink. "I'm sorry, Mr. Muto. Superstitions about the pharaoh cursing us for taking his Millennium Items aren't going to stop me from wanting them. Now that I see the Puzzle for myself, I know I have to have them. No one else in the world will ever come close to having a collection so rare and wonderful. Seven golden Items, implements of the pharaoh and his court, nothing like them exists anywhere in the world! Mayhew…" He nodded towards one of the men standing guard by the door. The henchman strode up, drawing a gun from inside his suitcoat and pointing it straight at Yugi's head. The big boss wandered away, speaking over his shoulder. "Then I guess I have no choice. You'd be a fool to try to hang onto the Puzzle, Mr. Muto. I'm not above taking it off your body like some robber did to the pharaoh a long time ago."

Yugi froze, his eyes going wide, but he knew this was the time. He let go, and instantly Yami's presence rushed forward, blazing to life with a mystical Eye shining from his forehead. The thug flinched, unsure what was going on. Yami did not even acknowledge him, his attention going straight to the dark-suited man across the room. "You dare threaten my partner," he intoned in his deep, dramatic voice. "I warned you. Anyone else who would try to take the Millennium Puzzle would face my wrath."

The man turned around, intending to mock his young prey again, but the sight of the Puzzle glowing like a star and a shimmering flame on Yugi's forehead made him do a double-take. "David," he said to his associate, wrapping comment and question into that single word.

"I don't know," Archer responded, lowering his arms to his sides and staring. "Maybe the Puzzle's got some hidden features after all."

"That's ridiculous." The businessman confronted Yami, who showed no sign of fear at all now despite the gun haphazardly pointed at him. "Bravery will get you nowhere, son," he said heavily. "Just give it up. I don't want to kill you, but if that's the way you want to play it…"

"This is no game," Yami growled, "but if you want one, I'll be glad to initiate one. One in which the stakes are much higher than your money can buy."

The businessman frowned, and then nodded towards his other bodyguard. "Peter, give us a hand."

"No way," the man replied, raising his hands. "He's just a kid. I don't want any part of this."

"Peter!" the man snapped, his face beginning to turn red. "He's trying to play mind games, it's nothing. Get over here and help me beat some sense into him."

"It has nothing to do with the mind games," Peter argued. "I'm not going to go to jail for you. If they find some teenager dead over his necklace, the heat'll be on me, not you. I'm not stupid."

"You are if you think a little moral outrage is going to get you off the hook," Archer snapped, coming forward. "It's too late now. You…"

At that instant, the door of the hotel room burst open from the outside, and a blast of invisible power knocked Peter back out of the way as he had been standing in front of it. Yami felt the dark jolt in his soul and knew its source, but he couldn't have been more glad to know it was there. Bakura stood in the doorway in all his glory, the Ring shining out from his chest, his eyes shadowed beneath his thick hair. "Sorry I'm late," he lilted with a twisted grin. "Mind if I join the party?"

The gun began to swing from Yami to the intruder, but Yami saw it and flung out a hand, knocking it from the henchman's grip. Pandemonium broke out, as Bakura rushed in, Archer flew at him, the big boss ducked out of the way, and Yami let out a roar of rage and flung himself into the melee of bodies. Archer's hands groped for either the necks of his adversaries or the Items around them, whichever he could grab, but neither spirit would allow it to happen. Bakura's fists flew, but for Yami, it was about the building swell of power he had been holding in until the moment Yugi allowed him to take control. Archer leaped toward him, but the pharaoh lifted his hands, palms outward, and shouted, "Mirror Force!" The effect was amusing to watch; Archer appeared to hit an invisible wall and rebounded backwards with as much energy as he had put into the charge, rolling end over end across the floor and coming to rest against a wall. Peter went to see to him, but Archer shook off the daze and picked himself up, wavering unsteadily on his feet before plunging back in. Bakura and Yami stood back to back, waiting for their chance to break for the door as soon as it was clear, but right now the businessman stood in their way, the look on his pasty face making it clear that if he was the last one left standing, he would fight for those Items. His eyes glazed over with lust, seeing two of them now. Three big men closed in on the two willowy boys, who crouched in readiness. "That was brave of you," Yami complimented his companion, "but what are we going to do now?"

"I don't suppose you have the Rod this time, do you?" Bakura chuckled wryly. "No matter. Just use your instincts – you seem to have a knack for it." He shoved Yami bodily out of the way as he threw himself at Archer, grappling with him for a moment before slamming a hand to the center of his chest and giving a shout as his internal power surged through him. Archer flopped back, completely out cold before his body even hit the floor. Bakura raised a fist wreathed in ethereal energy, as if it were holding the man's soul, but before he could do anything with it the other henchman tackled him from behind. The Millennium Ring clanged magnificently as it hit the floor, and Bakura let out a grunt as he was pinned between it and the heavy man. Yami leaped to assist, but the henchman kicked out and took his feet out from under him. Yami dropped onto his seat, unable to stop the man from striking Bakura and then trying to wrestle the Ring away from him. The pharaoh heard the dark spirit snarl, "oh no you don't!" before they went tumbling away across the room, knocking into furniture.

Yami tried to get to his feet, but the main boss was there all of a sudden, clapping his hands around Yugi's throat and squeezing. The pharaoh did his best to rebel, but he was no stronger than his vessel and couldn't pull himself free. The businessman then grabbed the chain of the Puzzle, seeing how close it was, how tantalizing, available for him to just take and run away with. Yami clamped a hand on the man's wrists, fighting back, refusing to allow him to get the chain over his head. "Never!" he seethed through clenched teeth. "The Puzzle does not belong to you! You will never break the bond, do you hear me?"

The man just kept pulling, one hand on Yugi's throat, the other on the Puzzle chain, his face contorted in a hideous grimace of desire and fury. Yami held him at bay, his own desires far stronger in the face of such a challenge, aware that it was down to him alone. He could hear Bakura crashing about somewhere behind him, but he had his own trouble to deal with and couldn't come to the rescue. Then, the door slammed open again and everyone heard, "Police! Freeze! Everyone stay where you are and don't move!"

At the same instant, both Yami and Bakura receded into their respective vessels, leaving the Americans throttling and beating on two young, sensitive boys with golden pendants around their necks. The businessman froze in place with his hand on Yugi's throat, but Yugi still managed to squeak out, "Help us, please! They're trying to kill us!"

Facing them from the doorway were no less than five police officers, guns drawn and pointed at all participants of the melee. The two henchmen still conscious immediately raised their hands, though one had stayed out of it and was merely tending to Archer. Their boss simply stared at the weapons trained on him, as if unable to comprehend the internationally-known gesture. More officers came up behind them, allowing the first cadre to rush into the room and train their guns on the ones obviously doing the violence, shouting at them to back off and get down on the floor until they all complied one by one. Bakura sat in a daze, his cheek bruised, but none of the officers had their guns on him so he knew he was okay. The businessman was the last to move, needing three officers pointing guns at his head before he finally let go of Yugi. They swiftly moved to cuff him, and then Yugi noticed a plain-clothes detective come into the room, guessing it was the one Marik and Odeon had spoken to. He zeroed in on Yugi and stood over him. "Are you all right?" he asked sternly.

"I think so," Yugi stammered, rubbing his throat. His leather collar had rubbed him raw, and the pressure of the buckle on his throat had been almost too much to bear. "Where did you come from?"

"We got a call that someone here reported an abduction," the detective replied. "When I heard the concierge's description of the young man who was kidnapped, I had to come along. You're Yugi Muto, correct?"

Yugi blinked at him. "Uh…yeah…"

"Thought so." The detective turned to the officers. "Get the medical team up here, to see to their injuries. No, the boys are the victims – the others are under arrest."

The officers not currently holding captives went to Yugi and Ryo, picking them up and finding them chairs to sit in while they waited for emergency staff to look them over. Both were breathless and a little sore, but they had come through the battle with only a few bruises to show for it. A new type of chaos swirled around them, as officers and detectives handled the cleanup of the mess, questioning the suspects, informing them of charges being brought against them, confirming that Yugi and Bakura were mere victims of attempted theft and battery. Without the spirit of the Ring in charge, Ryo was at his most tender and innocent, no one could believe that he had acted out of anything but concern for his old school friend in a brave but misguided attempt to heroically save him. After taking their statements and caring for their injuries, the detective declared them free to go. He had their information, in case he needed to call them and get the story all over again or bring them in as witnesses. Together, the boys went down to the hotel lobby, at which point Yugi began to tremble. He reeled into one of the empty couches in the lounge, there, needing a few minutes to collect himself before he could leave. Bakura sat down with him, realizing how drained he was. He had exerted himself beyond what he was used to. He sat beside Yugi and placed a hand gently on his back. Yugi sat forward with his head in his hands, breathing as deeply as he could. "It's okay, I'm okay," he tried to assure. "I just need to…to sit here a minute."

"So do I," Bakura realized with a sigh. "What…what just happened, Yugi? Was that it? Did we just…win?"

"I don't know." Yugi lifted his head, glancing aside at Ryo. "Are you okay? That's a nasty-looking bruise you've got there."

"I'm fine," his friend replied, though not very confidently. "I'm sure I'll be sore tomorrow, though. How about you? Those marks on your neck…"

Yugi reached up and traced the welts on his neck and throat left by the pressure of the Puzzle chain and the leather collar, the latter of which he had taken off so the medics could look at him and make sure he hadn't received serious injury. "It burns a little," he admitted, "but I think it'll be okay."

Bakura nodded, and then took a deep breath. "So…that was him. The guy who wanted our Millennium Items."

"I guess so." Yugi sat back, forcing Ryo to withdraw his comforting hand. "I heard the policeman read his identification, but I still don't recognize the name. I guess he's some kind of rich American CEO or something."

Ryo had heard the rest of the story as Yugi had related it to the officers taking his statement. He blinked in wonder at his friend. "But that's it, then. It's over. He's been arrested, and I'm sure he'll find it difficult to fight in court when a whole team of police officers saw him choking you."

"I just hope I don't have to be called into court myself," Yugi fretted. "I want to put this whole thing behind me. I hope it really is over."

They sat in silence for a while, hands demurely clasped in their laps, collecting their wits and catching their breath after the whirlwind of activity. Eventually, the collection of cops and robbers from upstairs had to come down and pass through the lobby to leave, passing like a demented circus train right in front of Yugi and Ryo where they sat. Archer was apparently conscious again, but neither he nor any of the others glanced aside as they were trooped out the door to the waiting police cars, enduring the boggled stares from passersby who couldn't help but rubberneck at all the flashing lights and handcuffs and guns. Despite being safely unnoticed, Yugi shot Archer a glare regardless. "So I guess the spirit of the Ring didn't do anything to his soul after all," he muttered under his breath.

"No," Ryo breathed. "There wasn't time. His soul just returned to him."

Yugi glanced at him again. "How much do you remember? Were you in on it, or did you black out like usual?"

Ryo blinked steadily at his hands in his lap. "I have some vague impressions, like I'm watching an out-of-focus movie," he murmured, "but I don't recall any specifics. I had to let him do it, though. I couldn't have taken on those men by myself, as much as I might have wanted to save you."

"Thanks."

Both boys looked up, then, as a tall man in a thick coat came up to them. It was the detective, again, looking considerably less stern than before. "Are you boys all right?" he asked kindly.

"Yes, sir," Yugi answered tiredly. "Just needed to catch my breath."

Bakura nodded towards the men being loaded into police cars outside. "What's going to happen to them? What will we have to do from here?"

"Hopefully, nothing," the detective said. "David Archer is wanted on several outstanding international warrants, I'm sure he'll be bouncing from one country to the next to face a sequence of trials, assuming one doesn't put him away on behalf of the rest. There's too much evidence against him for him to fight extradition, even if the courts here go light on him."

"What about the main guy?" Yugi worried. "He's the one I'm really worried about. He's the one who wants our Millennium Items, and I don't think putting him in jail for what he did upstairs is going to make him stop wanting them."

The detective sighed heavily. "Well, he's going on about his rights, but he's not in America right now," he smartly pointed out. "At the very least he'll be deported and forbidden from entering the country again. But I don't think you have to worry about him coming after you. He was caught in the act of attempted murder, it will be very hard for him to escape that."

Yugi focused sad eyes on him. "Will I have to come to any trials, or swear as a witness or anything?"

"That, I don't know. But I'll speak to the prosecutors on your behalf, and try to keep you out of court if possible. You're not of age, yet," the man noted, "so they may be kind toward you."

Yugi lowered his head again. "I just want it to be over," he said softly. "I don't want to be reminded of it for the next month or two by having to go to court and do legal things."

"We'll do our best, Mr. Muto. As for your Egyptian items…" Both boys looked up at him. The detective smiled a very cool, knowing smile. "We have sworn affidavits from the Ishtar clan of Egypt, claiming that the Items were given to you in accordance with some kind of historical agreement that supercedes Egypt's antiquities laws. So, they're technically yours. Anyone trying to claim them from now on will have to face theft charges."

Yugi blinked in surprise, wondering when Marik had gone and done that. "Thank you, sir," he managed to say after a moment. "That's a big relief."

"I would expect so. Now, you boys should go home, get some rest. If you want a ride, I can arrange a car for you."

"No, it's all right, I'm not far from home," Yugi assured.

"And I have to stop at the bookstore." Ryo smiled wanly. "I was supposed to be doing that when I saw what happened to Yugi."

The detective nodded understandingly and left them to themselves. The two young men sat there a while longer, waiting until all the police cars and the ambulance had pulled away and the street was once again clear and normal. Only then did they get up and leave the hotel, walking some distance down the sidewalk together in silence before Yugi found something to say again. "Well," he began, trying to put a lightness back into his voice, "that wasn't how I expected to spend my day at all."

"Me neither," Bakura admitted. "All things considered, I think I would have rather been studying like I was supposed to."

"Finals coming up, huh?"

"Yes…"

Yugi gave him a gentle smile. "Thanks for coming to my rescue. I owe you one."

Ryo smiled back, his brown eyes glowing happily for the first in a long time. "You owe me nothing. It's what friends are for." He glanced down at the Ring resting against his chest and discreetly buttoned his coat to hide it. "I don't like that the Millennium Items come between us, but I'm willing to put that aside as much as I can. For once, they brought us together."

"Yeah, I know. Kinda freaky." Yugi stopped on the corner and gave his friend a warmer smile face to face. "I'm sure you don't understand the Ring spirit any more than I do, so I can't ask you why he helped us this time. You probably don't know. But, for what it's worth, I'm glad he did." He reached up to brush back an errant lock of hair that was flopping in his face, and the movement raised his coat sleeve enough to reveal that he was currently wearing the woven Thai bracelet Bakura had brought him back as a souvenir. They both noticed it at the same time, and both broke into a light chuckle at it. "Well," Yugi said casually, "I guess I should be going. I don't want to worry Grandpa, he knows I should have been back from the airport by now."

Bakura gave him a curious look. "The airport?"

"Yeah, I…I saw Marik and Odeon off. They left just this afternoon, Marik was in too much danger to stay." Yugi suddenly gave a much brighter laugh. "They were going back to Egypt to hide until this mess was over. Wait till they find out that it was over before they even got back onto the ground! They're going to be so relieved. I better go and leave them a message or something."

"Yes, you should," Ryo agreed smilingly. "I'll see you around, Yugi."

"Sure," Yugi agreed. The two of them waved at each other, and then Bakura crossed the street with the light in one direction. Yugi had to go the other way to get home. Taking a deep breath, he felt the weight of his worries lift off his shoulders for the first time in what seemed like forever. It took a concerted effort not to think about what had just happened, to replay the action sequence in his mind, but he needed to tell the story to several people before the day was out. Grandpa first, then Marik if he called back when their plane landed, and finally Joey so he could stop worrying about his best buddy. At last, weary and still a bit sore from the fight, Yugi collapsed on his bed after dinner and closed his eyes. He was finally going to get to go inside the Puzzle, there was no reason for Yami to refuse the distraction anymore. Predictably, the pharaoh's spirit was waiting for him, and caught him up in warm, safe arms to hold and soothe him there in the stillness of the Puzzle's world. They didn't want to rehash the day's events, or decompress by talking out the impact it might have on their future, they simply wanted to forget about it and go on with their normal relationship. For tonight, at least. The rest could wait.

Yugi felt like he was forgetting somebody who needed to know that the mess with the Millennium Items was over, but he could think of no one. Once Joey knew, word trickled down to the rest of his friends in the same manner as his explanation for Marik's presence, so he didn't even need to tell all of them directly. Then, he received a call that snapped him back into the routine normality of his already weird life – the publicist at Industrial Illusions wanted him to come down for another photoshoot. With the regional finals less than a week away, they were already planning the next round of promotional goodies for the world tournament and wanted some fresh pictures of Yugi just in case. Yami was not much in the mood for such frivolity, considering what they had just been through in the last month, so the photos of the bonded pair were coming out rather dark and full of challenging glares. "No, no, it can work," the publicist assured the stylist and photographer as she looked over the thumbnails in the camera. "We can change up the art a little. Make it more powerful, like this is a life-and-death kind of thing. A darker color scheme, maybe some blacks and blues instead of the lighter colors. Make it more serious, less of the fireworks and cuteness. That'll bring in more mature gamers, especially after the first round is over and the serious players are moving on to the next level."

"What is the purpose of more posters and pictures now, if there's no way for new people to enter the tournament after this weekend?" Yami Yugi wondered as he put his coat back on. "All of this seems rather pointless to me."

The publicist turned to him with a proud smile. "It's a way of garnering interest in the tournament itself. No, people can't enter, but they can watch it. Remember, the final rounds are going to be televised, carried live in Japan, Australia, and the U.S. We want people to remember that it's coming up, and see by the posters just how exciting it's going to be."

"Ah." Yugi nodded, though he cared even less. He didn't compete in tournaments for the television exposure, after all. The publicist took him through to her office, then, and handed over another check cut by Pegasus. The numbers on it made Yugi's eyes widen. "What the…?"

"Mr. Pegasus asked me to pay you the balance of what you were contracted," the publicist explained. "We may or may not call you in for one more round of photos after the national finals, it will be his call then. If not, he didn't want you to go from now until the tournament without being paid properly."

"I see," Yami Yugi breathed. "Thank you."

By the time he reached the doors of the Industrial Illusions branch office, Yugi had resumed his natural state, though he was still talking enthusiastically with his inner spirit the whole way home. "I can't believe it, that's awesome," he enthused. "Two stupid photoshoots and we get all this money? I'm kind of glad I agreed to this, now, even if I hate having that poster staring at me from across the shop every day."

"Don't forget, if not for those posters, we might have gone longer without being threatened by David Archer," Yami mused darkly. "It's because of them that he was drawn here, to us."

"Oh, Yami," his partner sighed. "Sooner is much better than later. I'd hate for Marik to have had to spend the holidays here in Japan while Ishizu and everything familiar to him is back home in Egypt. This is great," he added, returning to the check in his inner coat pocket. "Now I can get Marik something for his birthday and send it out. This money came just in time. Now we can have some really happy holidays after all."

Hearing that, Yami's soul quieted and eased considerably. His partner's gentle heart always soothed him at the right times. "The next full moon is on Christmas, correct?"

"Conveniently enough," Yugi chirped. "We should do something. Have our friends over or something. Something bigger than the usual sitting around bored and having a big meal with Grandpa." He smiled to himself as he walked. "We have a lot to celebrate this year."

"Indeed, we do," Yami readily agreed. "Not just you and I together, but all of our friends. Joey and Mai staying together, Duke saving his game shop from Kaiba, Bakura helping save your life…"

The mention of Bakura sobered Yugi for a moment. "I just wish there was more I could do for him," he mused as he paused on a street corner to wait for the light. Anyone who glanced at him wouldn't know from looking at his placid, innocent face that he was carrying on this internal conversation. "It wasn't until we came into such close contact with him the past couple of weeks that I thought about it, but…he's really in a bad spot with the spirit of the Ring. We've always known what he's capable of, but seeing it over the past week just struck me. Ryo is under his complete control – he can't get away from him, and can't do anything to stop him when he tries to do things like come after other Millennium Items. Facing down that rich American guy was bad enough, but I know that the Ring spirit is an enemy ten times worse." He sighed to himself as he stepped off the curb and briskly crossed the street, keeping his head down more to concentrate on his running mental commentary than anything else. "It makes me worry. What if he decides to seriously come after us? What would we have to do to Ryo in order to stop the spirit inside him?"

Yami's thoughts darkened, following his partner's line of reasoning. "You're comparing it to when we had to face Marik's dark side, and nearly destroyed him in order to stop the evil."

"I'm afraid anything we do to Bakura would end up the same way," Yugi fretted, frowning to himself. "Why does he have to be enslaved to that spirit? Why did it have to be _his_ destiny to carry the Ring? He's such a sweet, gentle guy! He doesn't deserve this!"

"I don't know, Yugi," the pharaoh's voice said solemnly. "It's true, he has suffered greatly at the hands of the spirit. But, it seems to me, it's only because of Ryo that the spirit hasn't been able to attack us directly. Something about him reins in the darkness, if only temporarily."

Yugi sighed again, tucking his face down into the collar of his coat to stay warm. "I guess so. But I really wish Bakura could be free of him. Maybe then he wouldn't have to guard himself around me all the time, and we could really be friends like we say we are." A thought fluttered across his mind, and though he was sure Yami had read it the instant it appeared, he gave voice to it anyway. "I wonder if the embodiment ritual works for the Ring, too."

"Yugi!" The strident tone of the voice in his mind made Yugi falter a step. Inside him, it felt like Yami had been stirred up, disturbed like a pebble thrown into a pond. "I don't think that's a good idea," the pharaoh went on, as Yugi glanced around to make sure no strangers had watched him stumble. "There is no telling what the spirit of the Ring would do if he had a body for a day."

"I wasn't thinking of just letting him have a body," Yugi explained, deciding to stop and look into a store window as a pretense to cover his need to stop walking and concentrate on his internal discussion. "I meant…what if we taught Bakura the ritual, and as soon as the spirit was out of him, had him take the Ring off to break the connection between them? If it's like we suspect, wouldn't that destroy the spirit? Bakura could be free…"

"Yugi…" The voice in his mind saddened sympathetically. "I understand your reason, but we don't know for sure it would work that way. What if it didn't? Would you be prepared for the consequences of unleashing that dark spirit on the world in his own body?"

"Well…" Yugi lowered his head and closed his eyes. "I guess not. But…I feel so bad for Bakura. I wish he could break free of that spirit and live a normal life. Right now, the only way I know of doing that is through the ritual. We're so afraid that taking off the Puzzle would destroy you, why shouldn't it work the same way for the Ring?"

"There may be other ways," Yami reasoned. "We simply haven't uncovered them yet, any more than we've uncovered my past and my memory. We must give it time. Someday, it will all become clear, including Bakura's role in all of this."

Sighing again, Yugi lifted his head and turned to resume walking home. "And I don't suppose there's anyone we can just ask about it. Nobody knows anything about you, even those who know who you really are. There's nothing we can do except wait, and hope."

Yami's sigh whispered softly through Yugi's soul. "Hope, yes. Hold on to that hope, Yugi. I may not be able to offer you anything concrete now, but my heart tells me that when I am restored, Bakura will also be free. It will happen. We must have faith."

"I do." Yugi smiled to himself, a renewed warmth stealing through his heart at thoughts of his noble, powerful partner. "All of my faith is in you, Yami. That's never been in doubt." He raised his head, smiling more strongly at the sunshine cascading down on them on this brisk winter day. "There's no stronger hope to cling to in the world, I know it. You can do anything. And I'll help you."

Yami's spirit nearly chuckled at the glowing sentiment. He was ready to disagree, and humble himself in his partner's esteem, but he decided not to. The love with which Yugi thought of him was worth clinging to, to let blossom and strengthen them both. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps the pharaoh really was the hope of the world. Who was he to argue?

It may not have been the most prudent course of action, but since the threat against the Millennium Items had finally resolved, Yugi and Yami made up for it by spending nearly every night together inside the Puzzle, reveling in their freedom to do so. Some nights they just sat and held each other, or talked of less important things than death and shadow magic, but this night they made love as if an eternity had passed since they last touched each other. In truth, it had been less than a month, but stress had a way of lengthening need and inflaming desire. Yami concentrated on drawing out the encounter as long as possible, pleasing and thrilling his young love as many times as he could before they both exhausted themselves and wound up entwined in the canopy bed inside the room of imagination. Knowing that Yugi had occasionally been having fleeting nightmares flashing back to the struggle at the hotel, consisting mostly of the phantom sensation of hands closing around his throat, Yami insisted more than ever that Yugi should allow his mind to sleep within the Puzzle, the only way of ensuring a dreamless slumber. Yugi had expected this, having prepared himself for bed before entering the trance that allowed his mind to disconnect and enter the Puzzle, and gladly snuggled down into the blankets with his lover. He was inwardly tickled at the fact that here, they could sleep naked without threat of anyone walking in on them, unlike in embodied reality, and laid for a little while just feeling the contours of their bodies lying against each other until he finally closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Yami laid beside his lover in a hazy bliss, reveling in the feel of their naked skin in contact, combing his fingers idly through Yugi's hair while he slept. Here, the world did not exist. Here, he could forget about Items and powers and rituals, here he was the king of his own domain, and as such, could imagine anything he wanted out of this special room he shared with Yugi. At the moment, it reflected his quiet, contented mood; a false night sky showed through the windows on the far side, and the room remained swathed in darkness but for a few candles and torches dimly lighting the corner near the bed as they would in a pharaoh's palace. Soft, golden torchlight warmed the alabaster walls and played upon the shiny surfaces of the two Puzzles resting on the bedstand in a pile of chains. The soft, sheer draperies forming the canopy muted the light, turning everything outside the bed misty and dreamy. Though his spirit could have used the rest, Yami remained awake for a long time, indulging his inner senses in all the things his imagination, tied to Yugi's mind, could create for them to experience. Then, a new sensation tickled his mind – the feeling of someone else being nearby. Not outside, in reality, but here inside the Puzzle. It didn't feel dark, but Yami looked in concern toward the door separating their private chamber from the rest of the Puzzle, unsettled. It was as if he could hear a footstep approaching, though there was no sound, only the feeling in his soul of someone else's spirit like a foreign invader. As he stared over his shoulder, hesitating, wondering if he should be prepared to fight, a white-robed figure drifted in through the door, his piercing eyes sweeping through the room he entered in curiosity. As their eyes met across the room, both sighed with instant relief at recognizing the other. "Shadi," the pharaoh breathed.

Shadi began to approach the bed, but realized quickly that there were two naked young men in it and turned away in embarrassment. "My pharaoh," he stammered. "My sincerest apologies! I did not expect that you were…that you and Yugi…I'm terribly sorry…"

Yami remained still for a moment, torn between addressing the visitor properly and jostling his sleeping partner, but at last he considered that he couldn't leave Shadi standing there like that and carefully tried to extract himself from under Yugi's cheek and arm without waking him. It didn't work. Yugi stirred and murmured cutely, barely beginning to open his eyes. "Yami?"

"It's all right," the pharaoh assured him, brushing a hand over the top of his head. "It's just Shadi."

"Shadi…?" Yugi lifted his head just a little, blinking tiredly. "Huh…?"

Shadi turned to the side, in order to address both of them without looking at them. "I'm sorry if I have disturbed a private moment. I merely came to see if you were well."

Yami discreetly rearranged the top sheet on the bed to cover his waist. "Do you need to speak with us about something? We were merely getting some rest. I allow Yugi to sleep with his mind here to give him some peace."

"Then please, do not let me disturb his rest. But, pharaoh…" Shadi's eyes darted to the side for one brief second. "…if you are willing, I may speak with you."

"Of course." Yami drew the blanket to him and gathered it in his arm as he stood up, pausing only to reach back and caress Yugi's face tenderly. "Go back to sleep," he whispered. "I'll just be over there."

"Mmkay," Yugi mumbled, settling back down into the linen sheets warm from their bodies. He was tired enough that not even the surprise of Shadi's intrusion could wake him up enough to want to get up.

Yami wrapped the top sheet around his waist in a makeshift skirt and padded across the room to Shadi, going to the collection of chairs that sat around a low table at the opposite side of the room from the bed. Torches near the wall flared to life as he approached. "I'm sorry for the complete lack of formality," he said sheepishly as he took a seat. "We had no warning that you were coming."

"It is not necessary," Shadi assured as he also sank to a seat on the edge of a chair, clasping his hands in his lap. "You should not expect visitors here, this is your world, your private place. It is I who am intruding, I should be apologizing for taking you out of bed in the middle of the night." He glanced back at Yugi, snuggled down to sleep in the canopy bed. "But when I came as usual to see Yugi, and found him unresponsive, I assumed his mind was inside the Puzzle with yours and used the Millennium Key to allow myself access, so I might have his attention and speak to one or both of you."

"Ah." Yami wrapped the sheet a little tighter to make sure he was covered. "What brings you here in the first place? Is this to let us know our messages to Egypt were received?"

"Yes," Shadi replied. "You will be glad to hear that the Ishtar siblings are all safe, and that no further incidents have followed them home. I was prepared to have to protect them in my own way, but you have saved us all from our pursuers. We are, as always, deeply indebted to you, pharaoh."

Yami shook his head. "Yugi and I acted simply out of self-preservation. That it solved the entire problem was merely a fortunate turn of events." He gazed across at the guardian. "Have you heard the tale from Marik, then? Or is there anything about it you would like me to tell you?"

"If you would," Shadi said patiently. "Asking you directly is the same to me as looking through Yugi's mind to find his memories and read them like a book. I should like to know exactly how you vanquished your foe, and what you recall of being able to use shadow magic despite your lost memory."

Speaking quietly so as not to disturb Yugi, Yami related as much as he could, not only of the climactic battle but of their thoughts and observations leading up to it, after Marik had been captured and threatened. Shadi listened in attentive silence, allowing the pharaoh to share everything he thought important about the incident. "Yugi has not heard from any authorities in the past few days," he added at the end, "but we are prepared in case they need his witness to keep these criminals in prison. I don't know how they expect us to explain the use of shadow powers…" He gave a wry smile. "Hopefully, we won't have to."

"The less is known about that, the better," Shadi intoned, "not only for the sake of those who might believe Yugi unbalanced or challenge his credibility, but for those who might actually understand ancient magic and look for tales such as this to prove that it is real."

"Strangely enough," Yami mused, "among Yugi's friends and acquaintances, people have had a much easier time accepting the use of magic, such as the ritual of embodiment, than they have accepting our relationship. Sometimes, when I think on it, it disturbs me a little."

Shadi's expression did not change, but somehow he seemed to grow more serious. "The ritual. How has it been progressing throughout the year?"

Yami's mood also sobered. "Actually," he said in a low tone, "I would like to speak with you about that." He glanced across the room; Yugi was nothing more than a motionless silhouette wrapped in delicate white sheets, sleeping with his back to the visitors. "How much have you spoken with Marik since he returned to Egypt?"

"Enough." Shadi gazed solemnly at him. "He mentioned that he was allowed to witness the ritual, but spoke of some concern for Yugi. Is that what you wish to ask me about?"

"Yes." Yami clasped his hands together and stared down at them. "Gradually, over the course of the past few months, the ritual has been taking more and more of a toll on Yugi's strength. It started late in the summer, I noticed he was more out of breath than usual or dizzy, but the past couple of months when we performed it, he's been knocked unconscious. It concerns me greatly – I don't want this ritual to be harming him somehow."

Shadi arched one thin eyebrow. "And you don't wish to cease conducting the ritual, I assume?"

A faint smile crossed Yami's lips. "Yugi and I have become rather attached to it," he admitted bashfully. "I don't like to be a cause of suffering for him, but he is adamant that we not let, as he puts it, 'a little fainting spell' stand in the way of our being together. It is just a small thing," he added. "Yugi has only lost consciousness for a minute or two at the most, and after getting some rest overnight he is fine. But I've noticed it escalate gradually throughout the year. I fear that if we continue to use the ritual without regard for its effects, the impact on him will continue to worsen until it does him serious damage, to his body or to his soul."

Shadi nodded. "It does sound more serious than it appears on its face. But, I know very little about the ritual's effects. After discovering it for you and informing you that it could be done on every full moon, I have not sought more. If you wish, I can look into it for you. I will see if there has been anything written about the long-term effects, or whether it was meant to be performed continuously."

"If you would, please," Yami said in relief. "You were the one who discovered it. Surely you know where to look in ancient writings or legends for more information."

"I shall do what I can. But I will warn you, pharaoh, that writings about you and that period of history are very scarce. The tombkeepers did not even carry scriptures detailing the rituals and spells of your time and your court. I may not find much that can help you."

Yami shook his head slowly. "Anything will be of help, no matter how small. I just want to be sure that I'm not hurting Yugi, that our selfish desire to be together isn't going to be his downfall in the end."

"It seems as though my reason for bringing it to you in the first place has, essentially, backfired," Shadi noted with a fleeting hint of a smile. "I told you of it to assuage your need to visit each other here inside the Puzzle, lest Yugi's mind be trapped here again, and yet now it seems that may be the safer course of action compared to the ritual."

"There's so little we know about all of it," Yami said softly. "I may be simply overreacting as a lover would. It may get no worse. But we have no way of knowing without continuing to perform the ritual every month and simply watching out for each other. Should we have to discontinue it…" A sad smile haunted his violet eyes. "Well, I won't lie. It would be very disappointing. I enjoy being with him, and being able to experience the world myself, both pain and pleasure. But we do still have the Puzzle. He is safe here, with me."

"Yes, that is true." Shadi lifted his eyes and looked around the room. "This is a very interesting place you have created, pharaoh. Is this something from your memory, or simply a product of an active imagination?"

Yami also glanced around, at the torches, the friezes on the walls, the canopy bed and fine mahogany furniture. "I don't consciously remember any of this from my past," he replied, "but if it comes from a subconscious well somewhere deep inside me, I couldn't say. I would guess most of it is borrowed from Yugi's meager understanding of Egyptian history."

Shadi smiled. "It's very nice. It does remind me of home."

Yami ran a hand along the arm of the chair he sat in, feeling smooth, polished wood beneath his fingertips. "So much of the Puzzle's realm is unstable, ever changing, as my own mind changes. Very little remains the same. There is a room of recent memory, which stores everything I've learned about the world and myself since I met Yugi…and there is this. I created this to have a comfortable place for him to meet me." He offered the guardian a sly look. "The stairways and dark corridors don't do much for a romantic mood."

"I would imagine not." Shadi coughed politely into a fist. "Is that…all you wished to ask of me, pharaoh? Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Yami sat thinking for a moment, his attention turned away – to Yugi, sleeping away over there, completely oblivious to their conversation. "Just that," he answered. "For my own peace of mind, if nothing else. Any indication, however small, that the ritual's effects won't eventually grow to destroy Yugi from within." His hand absently went to his own chest and stomach, as if searching for the Puzzle that wasn't there. "He knows of my concern, but won't talk to me about it. He doesn't want to think that we may have to stop doing it if it keeps getting worse. To be honest, most days I share those feelings." His eyes returned to the guardian seated across from him. "Perhaps there is one other small thing, somewhat related to the first. Yugi has other worries about the Puzzle. Marik and Odeon stuck to us very closely on the ritual day out of fear that someone may have tried to steal the Puzzle then, and it scared Yugi to think that losing the Puzzle like that would mean losing me. We have continued the same as on that first day you gave us the ritual, keeping the Puzzle on him no matter what just in case it would break the connection between us." His expression grew intensely curious. "Do you know whether this is a valid precaution, or are we being careful over nothing? Would removing the Millennium Puzzle destroy me when I am outside of it? How does it relate to the ritual itself, and my corporeal body?"

Shadi made a face as he thought. "I know of nothing at the moment," he answered, "but I will search for that along with the other effects of the ritual. I will uncover as much as I possibly can for you, my pharaoh."

"Thank you, Shadi. That is all I can ask of you."

At that, Shadi rose to his feet. "In the meantime, be careful with the ritual. Having someone look after Yugi while it is being performed is not a bad idea. I know it is too much for me to ask you not to conduct it, but I know that you are no fool, and have a firm grasp on what both you and your vessel can handle. Your bond is what saves you – both of you." He glanced briefly toward Yugi's slumbering figure and smiled. "Take care of each other. When all else fails, when no one else can stand beside you, you will need each other."

"Yes," Yami murmured. "I know that all too well."

"I will take my leave, now," Shadi declared. "I have monopolized your time enough. I will send word to you in any way possible when I have researched the ritual for you. Again, forgive my sudden intrusion. I will go, so you can return to your partner's side." He bowed slightly, and turned and drifted away through the door of the chamber. Almost immediately, Yami sensed his alien presence vanishing from the Puzzle's realm, leaving the lovers alone.

Yugi did not reawaken at the jostle of the bed as Yami slid in beside him, having thrown the top sheet back over them both and snuggled down with his lover. Yugi was so cute when he slept, and so beautiful, Yami thought as he wrapped an arm over Yugi's waist and spooned up behind him. A soft sigh escaped Yugi, though he only nestled further into the linens and rested against the slender body behind him. Yami kissed him gently on the back of his neck before laying his head down to sleep as well. _Someday_, he promised his love. _Someday, we will be able to sleep just like this, together, without the Puzzle in the way, in the real world. I will do everything in my power to make it so. I love you, my dear Yugi_. Another kiss to his neck sealed the promise for the night.


	9. AN: Sequel!

**Hey Everyone!**

**This completes the fifth arc of Yugi Tachi! Look to its sequel and sixth installation ****_World Tournament Arc_**** on my home page already up!**

**Locondra Timbernova**


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